| Saints can be found in all walks of life. There are those who found their holiness and vocation in humility and service of the poor, such as St Francis of Assisi. There are those who demonstrated the Gospel in their lives in their social care, like Mother of Theresa of Calcutta. Many saints showed their outstanding holiness in providing education and well-being for the young, such as St Jean-Baptiste De La Salle, or in their intellectual understanding and promotion of scripture and the teachings of the Church, such as St John Henry Newman. Today we celebrate the holiness of saints with political and religious power and authority. St John Fisher was a Cardinal of the Church and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and he displayed his holiness in a time when religion and politics were closely combined and contesting as the Reformation unfolded. St Thomas More was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor as from October 1529 to May 1532. The invitation to holiness and the living of Gospel values belongs to each and every one of us, in whatever condition of life. St Paul, in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, names us whoever we are as “ambassadors for Christ”. For St John Fisher and St Thomas More, their journey was a rapid and influential rise in power and then the challenge of remaining true to what they believed, at the cost of everything, even their lives. In some ways, each of us is called to witness to our faith, even in the routine of our daily lives. Do we have the perseverance shown by the saints? + John Arnold Bishop of Salford |
