“Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12)
It’s so simple, isn’t it? “Do to others what you would have them do to you,” They call it the Golden Rule, because it can be so broadly applied. Though it’s found among the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, which we’re reading today, it’s not just a Christian, or Catholic rule. It could apply to any religion, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu– or no religion at all.
It’s a rule that stands out among all the teachings of Jesus.
It’s more than just a rule for individuals, a norm for personal conduct. If it were adopted by the community of nations, it would bring peace to our world, fairness to the way we live together. It would bring equality to the present unequal world of ours. How could the strong exploit the weak? How could we go to war? How could we enslave others? How could we neglect those in need?
“How would you like it if someone did that to you? Thought that about you? Wanted that to happen to you? It’s a rule so simple, yet we shy away from it.
“Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12)
John Fisher was born in Beverly, Yorkshire England in 1469, and entered Cambridge University at 14. Ordained a priest, he became chancellor of Cambridge in 1504 and Bishop of Rochester, the poorest diocese in England, that same year. He attracted some of the leading scholars of Europe to the university and his learning, holiness and pastoral dedication caused the young king, Henry VIII, to say there was no better bishop in all the world.
When Henry sought to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, John Fisher strongly upheld the validity of their union. Furious at Fisher’s opposition to the Oath of Supremacy that stated Henry was the head of the English church, Henry had him arrested and imprisoned in 1534. “Not that I condemn anyone else’s conscience,” Fisher said, “ Their conscience may save them, and mine must save me.”
While in prison, Pope Paul III made Fisher a cardinal. After 10 months in jail, he went to his death, carrying with him a copy of the New Testament. To the crowd gathered for his execution, he proclaimed his faith in the Catholic Church and asked for their prayers. Then he recited the Te Deum and the psalm “ In you I hoped, O Lord.” He was beheaded on June 22, 1535.
His execution, two days before the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist caused many to see him following courageously his namesake, who condemned Herod’s attempted marriage to Herodias, He was canonized along with Thomas More by Pope Pius XI on May 19, 1935. His feast, with Thomas More, is celebrated today by the Church of England on July 6.
The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the joint feast of John Fisher and Thomas More on June 22.
Tower Hill, Execution Place of John Fisher and Thomas More
On June 22, we celebrate two men of conscience, Thomas More and John Fisher. More was born in London in 1478. He studied law at Oxford, received his doctorate and in 1504 became a member of the English Parliament. He married Jane Holt in 1505 and had four children, three girls and one boy– Margaret, Cecilia, Elizabeth and John.
The More household was a model of spiritual and intellectual life. More saw that his daughters were well educated, something unusual in those days, and led his family in prayer, study of scripture and discussion on the important matters of the day. He welcomed into his home distinguished scholars like Erasmus and John Fisher, but also poorer neighbors whom he treated warmly and respectfully. His wife died, and More married a widow, Alice Middleton, in 1511.
When Henry VIII became king he sought out More as a friend and advisor, making him Lord Chancellor in 1529. More functioned wisely and justly in that office. His friend Erasmus wrote: “In serious matters no one is more prized, while if the king wishes to relax no man is more cheerful…Happy the nations where kings appoint such officials.”
Shortly after More took office, Henry VIII began proceedings to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Because he could not agree with the king, More kept silent and eventually, in 1532, resigned from office.
Without income and in disfavor, he spent the next few years writing and reflecting, living quietly with his family, “being merry together” he said. But in 1534 he was asked, with John Fisher, to take an oath to the king that he could not accept. He refused, and after 15 months in prison, he was beheaded on July 6, 1545, “the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”
He is the patron of lawyers and politicians.
In prison More wrote to his daughter, “ I trust only in God’s merciful goodness. His grace has strengthened me till now and made me content to lose goods, land and life as well, rather than swear against my conscience. I will not mistrust him, Meg, though I shall feel myself weakening and being overcome with fear. I shall remember how St. Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray for his help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning. “
St. Thomas More’s life was portrayed in a celebrated movie, “Man for All Seasons.”
“Lord, give us faith like Thomas More to do what is right and trust in you.”
Our readings from the 2nd Book of Kings end this week with the account of the Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, brutally leveling Jerusalem, killing or taking away in chains its leaders and most of its population, leaving only some of its poor behind. (Friday)
A reading from the Book of Lamentations describes the devastation in grim detail. (Saturday)
The sad history of the Jewish kingdom beset by pride and greed, recalled in our previous readings these weeks, comes to an end.
Our readings from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount also end this week. Jesus comes down from the mountain with a large crowd following him. He heals a leper before entering Capernaum to begin his ministry. (Friday)
As he enters Capernaum he heals the servant of a Roman centurion who is paralyzed. (Saturday)
Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum so differently than Mark, who describes Jesus silencing a demon in the town’s synagogue as his first miracle. Matthew’s miracles point to God’s salvation offered to all: those society banishes, like the leper and enemies, like the Roman solider.
Even though the first and second readings on weekdays are not chosen to connect, it seems to me our readings this week make sense together.
All the saints celebrated this week are good examples to reflect on in these crazy political times. John the Baptist, (Tuesday) Thomas More, John Fisher. (Monday)
As Jesus teaches about prayer this week from the Sermon on the Mount, let’s look further at how we pray. There’s liturgical prayer– the Mass, the sacraments, and then there’s devotional prayer–the rosary, stations of the cross, other devotional prayers. How are they related?
An important church study in 2001 said that liturgical prayer after the Council of Trent “entered a static period of substantial uniformity, while popular piety entered a period of extraordinary development.”The rosary, novenas, parish missions and retreats “were seen as an important means for defending the Catholic faith and nourishing the piety of the faithful…they still continue to nourish the faith and religious experience of the faithful.”
Ordinary Roman Catholics at the time of the Second Vatican Council were deeply attached to the Catholic devotional tradition. They still are.
Devotional prayers “were sometimes more important than the Liturgy.” (Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy, Rome, 2001, 41) The Second Vatican Council in its constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium, sought to restore the primacy of liturgical prayer by revising the liturgy of Mass and the sacraments.
The council considered popular devotions in one short paragraph: “Devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the sacred seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, and are in some way derived from it, and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy is by its nature far superior to any of them.” (SC 13)
Efforts to enhance the place of church’s prayer, however, often failed to reckon with the attachment of ordinary people to the devotional tradition. Balancing the liturgical and devotional traditions still has to be done.
Some examples? Liturgical prayer is rooted in the scriptures. We need to know and appreciate the bible more.The lectionary of scripture readings throughout the year is a treasure of wisdom and spirituality that still awaits widespread use by believers.
Liturgical prayer is rooted in symbols, and people today have a weak sense of the symbolic. We need to develop a sensitivity to symbols and symbolic thinkings to appreciate liturgical prayer.
More and more, we need to pray the church’s prayer: its holy days – Sundays, the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter– the feasts of its saints, especially Mary, the Mother of God, and its prayers, especially the psalms.
Devotional prayer, important as it is, is meant to lead us to the liturgy.
In Matthew’s gospel today, Jesus speaks of treasures in heaven. Usually the treasures we think of are gold, silver, works of art, gems, degrees from school, signs of achievement. They’re the “treasures of earth” Jesus speaks of in the gospel. Thieves can steal them away; they can be eaten by moths and forgotten. They don’t last. (Matthew 6,19-23)
Other treasures are for heaven. St. Paul sees some of them in his trials for the gospel in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians. God won’t forget his sufferings: the beatings, imprisonments, brushes with death, the long journeys over seas, rivers, and wildernesses where robbers waited. Paul lists dangers he faced, both from enemies and his own people. God wont forget any of them, down to his sleepless nights and bouts with the cold.
He ends his list with what might be the biggest treasure of them all; “the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led to sin, and I am not indignant?” He’s tried to be responsible everyday with the people around him, whether they’re the weak or the trying. That’s the lasting treasure God holds in heaven. (2 Corinthians 11,18 ff)
We might not be able to match Paul’s of missionary travails, but let’s keep Paul’s last important achievement in mind. If we do what we have to do each day as well as we can, if we are faithful to our daily duty, if we bear our daily cross, if we bear with the weak and the difficult, won’t that be our treasure?
God counts it so.
Before he was executed St. Thomas More. wrote to his daughter Meg:
“ I trust only in God’s merciful goodness. His grace has strengthened me till now and made me content to lose goods, land and life as well, rather than swear against my conscience. I will not mistrust him, Meg, though I shall feel myself weakening and being overcome with fear. I shall remember how St. Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray for his help. And then I trust he shall place his holy hand me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning. “
Here are some reflections on the Our Father from one of the great early commentators on the Our Father, St. Cyprian.
“The prayer continues: Thy kingdom come. We ask that the kingdom of God may appear to us, just as we ask that his name may be sanctified in us…We are praying that our kingdom, which has been promised to us by God, may come, the kingdom that was acquired by the blood and passion of Christ; and that we who started off as his subjects in this world may hereafter reign with Christ when he reigns, as he himself promised when he said: Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take up the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.
We add: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This is not that God should do what he wills, but so that we may be able to do what God wills. For who could resist God in such a way as to prevent him doing what he wills? But since the devil hinders us from obeying, by thought and by deed, God’s will in all things, we pray and ask that God’s will may be done in us. For this to happen, we need God’s good will – that is, his help and protection, since no-one is strong in and of himself but is kept safe by the grace and mercy of God. Moreover, the Lord, showing the weakness of the humanity which he bore, said Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, and showing his disciples an example, that they should do not their own will but God’s, he went on to say nevertheless, let it not be my will, but yours.” St. Cyprian
Jesus says in today’s gospel : “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them.Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6, 8)
Gerhard Lohfink in his book “The Our Father” notes that ancient Near Eastern prayers began with a long address to the god who was approached. An Akkadian prayer, for example, begins: “God of heaven and earth, firstborn of Anu, Dispenser of kingship, Chief Executive of the Assembly of the gods, Father of gods and men, Granter of agriculture, Lord of the air”.
“One senses that the forms of address had to be precise; otherwise the god would not listen. It’s not a simple matter to speak to him without making a mistake. Correct language and competence in praying are required. Above all, one must know the deity’s proper name.
Nothing of the kind in the Our Father! ‘Abba’ that’s the only address. It’s familial.”
The creed and other Christian prayers keep that address first. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” The Creator is our Father. The creed tells us what we as God’s children have received from our Father and what we are promised.
“We would not dare claim such a name in prayer, unless God himself had given us permission to pray this. And so, we should remember that when we call God our Father, we must live as children of God, so that whatever pleasure we take in having God for our Father, he may take the same pleasure in us.” (St. Cyprian, Commentary on the Our Father}
God doesn’t need many words from us; he hears us when we call “Father.”
You wont find any prayer in scripture that isn’t found in some way in the Lord’s Prayer, St. Augustine writes to Proba, a Roman woman looking for advice about how to pray.
Jesus himself gave this prayer to us. The words of the prayer are teachers of prayer, a school of prayer. No prayer is more important than the Our Father for teaching and leading us into union with God.
“Teach us to pray,” the disciples of Jesus ask him and gave them this prayer as their norm.
It’s a norm, Augustine tells Proba, ” So when we pray we are free to use different words to any extent, but we must ask the same things: in this we have no choice.”
The saint is recommending we pray the Our Father meditatively, a prayer that easily becomes one we say by rote. Think of the words, what they mean, what they tell us. Sometimes it’s good to leave long prayers or many prayers, and simply rest in one, like the Our Father.
In our reading tomorrow from Matthew, Jesus teaches the Our Father.
