Ornaments of Grace - St. Thomas Becket

The way we can be sure of our knowledge of him is to keep his commandments. The man who claims, “I have known him,” without keeping his commandments is a liar; in such a one there is no truth. But whoever keeps his word, truly has the love of God been made perfect in him. The way we can be sure we are in union with him is for the man who claims to abide in him to conduct himself just as he did…” 1 John 2:3-6 Thomas Becket of England might not have been a saint in the beginning. He had a lot of worldly ambition and sometimes supported the wrong causes. But, none of us is born full of grace, except the Blessed Mother. That means we have to overcome those desires and actions within us that might not be for our best; that might not be, in other words, what God desires. For most, conquering all evil inclinations takes a lifetime of hard work and willingness to open ourselves to all the gifts God sends us. Thomas Becket, born in 1118, worked himself up in the world. He described himself at one point in his life this way: “… a proud, vain man, a feeder of birds and follower of hounds.” He became a friend of Henry II while they were in school and both loved hunting, women, and luxury. The King saw the intellectual, legal, and organizational skills of his friend. So, Henry II appointed Becket, only 36 at the time, Chancellor of England. Henry saw his friend take charge of the country in an astonishing way. Thomas centralized the King’s power; in the process, he often hurt the Church as he tried to serve the monarchy. King Henry, wanting to take more control of the Church, decided to make Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket was hesitant but finally agreed to the position. However, he warned Henry that he could not accept Henry’s wanting to take over many church affairs. Thinking he and Henry had an agreement, Thomas resigned his Chancellorship to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. As Archbishop, Becket began to turn his whole life around based on his responsibilities to the Church. King Henry had no intention of listening to Thomas on church-related issues. At one point, Becket did consider compromising with Henry on the Constitutions of Clarendon which denied clergy the right to trial by a Church court and did not allow them to appeal directly to Rome in legal matters. A little later, though, Thomas realized this was not a good idea and fought against the Constitutions. Thomas also excommunicated a baron who was a loyal servant to Henry and seriously annoyed Henry in other ways. So, King Henry had a Council of Bishops loyal to the King condemn Becket who then fled to France in 1164. He remained there until he could be reconciled with the King in 1170. Upon returning to England, the King asked Thomas to take back censures he had imposed on Bishops loyal to Henry because they had not taken an oath of obedience to the Pope. When Becket said he could not do that, the King shouted in a drunken rage: “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” Four knights took Henry at his word, went to the Canterbury Cathedral, and murdered Thomas Becket on December 29, 1170. So, Thomas Becket reformed his ways once he became Archbishop. He also wavered even as Archbishop, but ended up doing what was right no matter the cost. The strong Archbishop became, in the end, a martyr and saint. His last words were these: “Willingly, I die for the name of Jesus and in defense of the Church.” We know he was abiding in God because he did not just say the words but, as St. John says, conducted himself just as Jesus did. St. Thomas Becket is today’s Ornament of Grace. Is there a time in your life when you overcame evil and it made you stronger? Can you give examples of ways you can stand up fearlessly for what is right and just, even at the cost of losing a good friend and maybe losing a lot more?