Today marks the saint day of Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and Gadfly of King Henry II.

Becket was ordained a Deacon and then Archdeacon for the Archbishop of Canterbury in short order after studying in Paris as a young man. He was born the son of the sheriff of London in 1118, and therefore had many rights and privileges offered to him, including an inroad with King Henry II which allowed him to live the high life.

King Henry II decided, apparently on a whim, that Becket should be named Archbishop though he wasn’t even a priest. Becket protested, saying, “Then I would fall from your favor, your Majesty.”

Henry disregarded this prescient warning, and ordained him a priest and then elevated him to Archbishop in 1162 all in one fell swoop.

Becket, now as Archbishop, took his position quite seriously. He abandoned the trappings of the comfortable life he had been leading, and assumed the role of “shepherd of souls.” He and King Henry soon were on the outs as Becket argued fiercely over the boundary between the church and the state. The feud became so fraught that Becket was forced to leave Britain and take up residency in France, where he lived as Archbishop of Canterbury in exile.

Six years after being exiled, Becket was allowed to return, but the feud continued. One night King Henry, in a rage, asked rhetorically, “Who will rid me of this priest?!” Four knights in the room, who didn’t understand a rhetorical question when they heard one, rushed off to the cathedral in Canterbury and murdered Becket in front of the altar.

Becket’s last words were, “For the name of Jesus and in defense of the Church, I am willing to die.”

The people of England were shocked and dismayed, and soon after his death miracles were reported at the tomb. In 1173 the pope canonized him, and Henry was forced to be whipped by monks from the abbey over the tomb as penance.

The Henrys’ would have the last laugh, however, as King Henry VIII would avenge his ancestor and destroy the shrine over the tomb.

You may know Becket’s story as this ambitious and tough-minded monastic has inspired numerous works of art including Tennyson’s “Becket” and Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral.”

St. Thomas Becket is a reminder for me, and should be for the whole church, that the church cannot be in service to the state if it is to adequately critique it. Becket knew this…I wonder if we sometimes forget it in nationalistic fervor.

-historical bits from Pfatteicher’s New Book of Festivals & Commemorations

-icon written by Theophilia

Today the church remembers not one person, but rather a family: The Holy Family, Vessels of Divine Communion.

Typical depictions of the Holy Family usually include Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus. We understand through scriptural accounts as well as the conventions of the day, that Jesus had siblings as well, which should not be forgotten.

It should also not be assumed that the Holy Family is somehow a prescription for how nuclear families should look. It is, instead, descriptive of the times…and even then, not so much, as Mary’s pregnancy out of wedlock certainly chaffed against the societal norms of the day.

But even with these qualifiers, the Holy Family as a unit is instructive for the kind of love that people can, and should, share within the family (biological or chosen). Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, is tenderly concerned when he cannot find his son on their pilgrimage, and is, by all accounts, kind and stalwart with Mary, keeping their engagement despite the pregnancy surprise.

Mary is a wise and protecting mother, accompanying Jesus on his travels, and sticking with him until the very end, even the cross. Truly, Beloveds, we are not meant to bury our babies, and yet she does so, not shying away from the heartache.

And though we don’t get much of a glimpse of the child Jesus, we find him appropriately rebelling against his parents, kindly watching out for his mother, and including his brother in his ministry.

Certainly it was not an idyllic family. No flesh-and-blood family, chosen or biological, is idyllic (despite what social media might portray). There were even a few arguments recorded (John 2, Matthew 12, Mark 3) that showed not everything was “Leave It to Beaver.”

And yet, they loved one another through it all.

This is why they are lifted up today: not because they were perfect, but because they loved one another in and through the imperfections.

Which, to me, sounds pretty Divine.

-icon written by Br. Mickey McGrath