St. Thomas More said, “The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."  Be conscious of your actions today and give each one of them to Jesus, ask the Lord to bless those actions for the good of His Kingdom.

Today take a few minutes to reflect on this dialog between Roper and More from  “A Man for All Seasons.”

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?  This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's!  And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?  Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

Thomas More was a man of principal and he was known as such, One example is when More testifies before an inquiry committee and Norfolk attempts to persuade him to sign an oath of allegiance: Norfolk: "Look, I'm not a scholar, and frankly I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not—but Thomas, look at these names! You know these men! Can't you do as I did and come along with us for fellowship?"

More: "And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Heaven for doing according to your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come along with me—for fellowship?"

 As we enter another election year this insight from Thomas More can provide prayer material for us.  "I think that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos."

This summer reading Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons” can be a very enlightening for reflection on our citizenship, both temporal and eternal.

May God Be Praised!