Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a witness of the faith as a martyr? All of us are called to be saints; but not everyone a martyr. I have always wondered that if I died as a martyr; how I would die; or would I have the courage to die for Christ?        Today we have two martyrs – both were from England; and both died the same way; they were beheaded. However, both are from different vocations.
            One was St. John Fisher, who was born on Oct 19, 1469 in Beverly, Yorkshire. He studied at the University of Cambridge and was ordained to the priesthood in 1491. He later became the Bishop of Rochester and wrote many writings to fight against Lutheran movement. And when Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Anne Boleyn, Bishop Fisher tried to intervene. This only led Henry VIII to view him as a traitor to his country. King Henry VIII declared himself the head of the Church in England and forced everyone in the Church to acknowledge this with an Oath of succession. Bishop Fisher refused. While he was in prison waiting for the verdict from his trial, Pope Paul III send Fisher a cardinal’s hat; which only sealed his fate completely. And finally on June 21, 1535; he was executed and Henry, to show others what will happen to traitors, had saint’s head exposed on the London Bridge for two weeks.
            The second one was St. Thomas More, who was born on February 7, 1478 in London, England. He studied in Oxford and became a lawyer. Eventually he was elected to Parliament and move up in political power until he became Lord Chancellor of England. While in his position he witnessed how Henry VIII was becoming more and more arrogant in his thirst for power. He saw that little by little he was going to break away from the Catholic Church. Even though Thomas was in politics he still was a man of prayer and he regularly did penances – he loved his Catholic Faith. Though he had a family, a wife and children; he resigned from his post in government. He knew he could never renounce his faith or declare King Henry as head of the Church. But instead of removing him as a target it exposed him as a traitor to his country. When he was arrested for treason, he had first said nothing thinking that if he said nothing the charges would soon be dropped. But then came the day he was told to renounce the Pope. He could not and was executed on July 6, 1535 saying for the last time, “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.”
            St. Peter once wrote: “Rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13). If we were faced with martyrdom; could we too rejoice? I would think, yes, since it would be God who would give us the grace to do so. It does not matter our vocation – a priest or a husband – we too may one day be asked to be martyr for Christ!
            St. Thomas More once said: “Do not worry about me no matter what happens in this world. Nothing can happen to me that God does not want. And all that He wants, no matter how bad it may appear to us, is really for the best.” And St. John Fisher once said: “A good man is not a perfect man; a good man is an honest man, faithful and unhesitatingly responsive to the voice of God in his life.”