From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   -- Philippians 1:6 --   
      
   Being confident of this very thing: that he who hath begun a good work   
   in you will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus. DRB   
   ========================   
   Do you sometimes feel as though you aren't making progress in your   
   spiritual life? When God starts a project, he completes it! He will   
   help you grow in graceuntil he has completed his work in your life.   
   When you are discouraged, remember that God won't give up on you. He   
   promises to finish the work he has begun. When you feel incomplete,   
   unfinished or distressed by your shortcomings, remember God's promise   
   and provision. Don't let your present condition rob you of the joy of   
   knowing Christ or keep you from growing closer to him.   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   December 29th – St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop, martyr   
   (1118-1170)   
      
   Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, martyr to the freedom of the   
   Church, is venerated 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 36, 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 lifestyle 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. 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.   
      
      
   Saint Quotes:   
   "Many are needed to plant and water what has been planted now that the   
   faith has spread so far and there are so many people...No matter who   
   plants or waters, God gives no harvest unless what is planted is the   
   faith of Peter and unless he agrees to his teachings."   
      
   "Remember the sufferings of Christ, the storms that were   
   weathered...the crown that came from those sufferings which gave new   
   radiance to the faith...All saints give testimony to the truth that   
   without real effort, no one ever wins the crown."   
   --St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Lord, Kindle our Lamps   
   By St Columban (543-615)   
      
   Lord, kindle our lamps,   
   Saviour most dear to us,   
   that we may always shine   
   in Your presence   
   and always receive light   
   from You, the Light Perpetual,   
   so that our own personal darkness   
   may be overcome   
   and the world’s darkness   
   driven from us.   
   Amen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)