From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
    The voice of the one crying in the wilderness   
      
   "The true consolation, the genuine comfort and the real deliverance   
   from the iniquities of humankind is the incarnation of our God and   
   Savior. Now the first who acted as herald of this event was the   
   inspired John the Baptist. Accordingly, the prophetic text proclaims   
   the realities that relate to him in advance, for that is what the   
   three blessed Evangelists have taught us and that the most divine Mark   
   has even made the prologue of his work. As for the inspired John, whom   
   the Pharisees asked whether he himself was the Christ, he declared on   
   his part: 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make   
   straight the way of the Lord' as the prophet Isaiah said (John 1:23;   
   Isaiah 40:30); I am not God the Word but a voice, for it is as a   
   herald that I am announcing God the Word, who is incarnate. Moreover,   
   he refers to the Gentiles as the 'untrodden [land]' because they have   
   not yet received the prophetic stamp."   
    by Theodoret of Cyr 393-466 A.D.(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12.40.3)   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   December 29th – St. Thomas Becket   
   (A.D.1118-1170)   
      
   Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, martyr to the freedom of the   
   Church, is venerated on December 29. His feast is within the Octave of   
   Christmas because that was the date of his death. But it is also   
   appropriate to commemorate him soon after the birth of Christ the   
   King, for he died in defense of the Kingdom that is not of this world.   
      
   Becket was a Londoner of upper middle-class stock, the son of the   
   sheriff of London. He started to work as a merchant’s clerk, but then,   
   with a view to a clergy career, he joined the household of Archbishop   
   Theobald of Canterbury, England’s primatial see. He may also have   
   studied at Bologna, Italy. Prizing Thomas’ talents, Archbishop   
   Theobald subsequently chose him as his chief counselor and   
   representative. With good reason: this tall, handsome, vigorous,   
   extroverted young man was highly intelligent and competent.   
      
   On Theobald’s recommendation, the young king Henry II appointed   
   Becket, then thirty-six, as his chancellor. Thomas proved more than   
   equal to the task. Henry not only appreciated his talent but also his   
   company, and the two became closely attached socially. This was all   
   the easier in the sumptuous royal court because Thomas, though a   
   cleric, shared the King’s devotion to banqueting and hunting. He lived   
   magnificently, even on a regal scale. In 1159, clad in armor, he led   
   700 of his own knights in combat in the siege of Toulouse. Wearing   
   secular garb troubled him little. The prior of Leicester, meeting him   
   at Rouen, properly exclaimed, “What do you mean by dressing like that?   
   You look more like a falconer than a cleric.” Becket was certainly   
   worldly and ambitious, impetuous and harsh. Yet there was in him an   
   idealistic and devout and pure side that would show itself more and   
   more as he matured.   
      
   King Henry was meanwhile laying plans to gain complete control over   
   church as well as state in his kingdom. When Archbishop Theobald died,   
   Henry foisted Thomas on the see of Canterbury, thinking that his boon   
   companion would assist him in subjugating the Church. Thomas declined   
   the position. He knew only too well the King’s motives, and he was   
   cleric enough to realize that what he had done as chancellor he could   
   not in conscience do as archbishop. He warned the King about this, but   
   Henry did not believe him. On being consecrated a bishop, Thomas   
   resigned the chancellorship.   
      
   After his installation, Thomas changed his life style to one of order,   
   prayer and penance. The break in the royal friendship came only   
   gradually. Conflict peaked in 1164, when Henry declared his intention   
   to revive certain unspecified “royal customs”.   
      
   Thomas was at first willing to go along. Then, when the King presented   
   a list of three “customs”, he saw that he could not support them.   
   Among them were the demand that clergy be subject to trial in civil   
   courts as well as church courts; that the king had a right to the   
   income from empty clerical benefices; that no prelate could appeal   
   from the king to the pope, or even travel to Rome, without royal   
   consent.   
      
   Thomas refused to accept. Henry stormed. Trial for treason being in   
   the offing, the Archbishop fled to France, seeking shelter in the   
   Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny. Even from afar, Henry lashed out at   
   Thomas by persecuting his relatives and the local Cistercian monks.   
   But Becket did not hesitate to excommunicate the bishops who sided   
   with the crown against the Church.   
      
   In July 1170, monarch and archbishop met in France and patched up an   
   agreement, but without discussing the principal issues. When Thomas   
   returned to England on December 1, the people greeted him   
   triumphantly. Three bishops whom he had suspended for breaking church   
   law, now appealed their cases to the King, still in France. In one of   
   his famous rages, Henry cried out, “Will nobody rid me of this   
   pestilent cleric?” Four knights who took the King at his word, left at   
   once for England, rode to Canterbury, and murdered Thomas in his   
   cathedral.   
      
   All Europe was shocked at this sacrilegious assassination. Miracles   
   were soon reported at Becket’s tomb. The pope excommunicated King   
   Henry, who retracted his anti-church legislation and did public   
   penance.   
      
   Thomas was canonized in 1173. Ever since then the Church has   
   celebrated his feastday as a martyr on December 29th. He had made up   
   for his early failings by reforming his ways, but most of all, by   
   sacrificing his life for the liberty of the Church.   
      
   –Father Robert   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   For our sake Christ offered Himself to the Father upon the altar for   
   the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret   
   thoughts, and one day He will give each of us the reward his deeds   
   deserve. It must therefore be our endeavor to destroy the right of sin   
   and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up   
   the Church of Christ into a holy temple of the Lord.   
   – Saint Thomas Becket   
      
   Saint Thomas Becket's patronage: Clergy; secular clergy; Exeter   
   College Oxford; Portsmouth, England.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Reflection:   
      
   VERY quickly will there be an end of you here; take heed therefore how   
   it will be with you in another world. To-day man is, and to-morrow he   
   will be seen no more. And being removed out of sight, quickly also he   
   is out of mind. O the dullness and hardness of man’s heart, which   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)