ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends in Christ,

I am honored to be with you to recall and to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of Saint Thomas More High School.  With joy and great gratitude, I greet the members of Saint Thomas More High School Alumni Association.  Your fidelity to the memory of your high school, and your efforts to preserve the legacy and further the availability of Catholic Education are a great blessing to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  For all that you have done, for your present dedication, and for all that is to be accomplished in the future, I thank you.
           
On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, the Church presents to us the Gospel passage about the man born blind.  In ancient times, many understood that a physical disability, such as blindness, was a punishment from God for sin.  The disciples of our Lord asked Jesus for whose sin―a personal sin or the sin of his parents―was the man punished with blindness.  Jesus quickly responded that this blindness was not a punishment for sin, but rather a means through which God’s works would be made visible.  Upon declaring Himself ‘the Light of the World,’ our Lord took immediate action.  Using His saliva, Jesus made clay and smeared it upon the eyes of the man with the instructions “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.”   The man did this and was healed.
           
When Jesus instructed the man to “go and wash,” we can see that this is a clear reference to the Sacrament of Baptism.  Through the saving waters of Baptism, we are washed clean, the blindness of sin is removed, and we are infused with the light of grace.  We become a new creation.   The drama of this incident involves the core disbelief of the Pharisees, as well as their resentment that Jesus would work a miracle on the Sabbath day.  Further, the Pharisees sought to intimidate the man who was healed of blindness as well as his parents.  Although the man who was healed had not seen Jesus, he knew that Jesus had healed him.  He came to believe that Jesus was sent from God and he testified to the Pharisees that Jesus was “a prophet.”  Once Jesus sought the man, and this man saw the face of Jesus, the man who had been blind came not only to believe in but also to worship Jesus. 
           
The episode of the man born blind and healed of his blindness reflects the experience of believers.  Through the waters of Baptism, we are washed and healed.  Through our encounter with Jesus, we come to believe.  Our belief is reflected in our worship of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.  The Church, founded by Christ, has the mandate to preach the Gospel to every nation and to baptize in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  The Church is to proclaim to people in every time and place the truth of Jesus Christ.  Through her task of teaching the faith, the Church is to influence culture and transform society in Christ, who is the Light of the World.  Our celebration today marks how particularly this local Church―the Church in Philadelphia―has, through Catholic education formed young minds and prepared faithful citizens to have a positive impact on the culture of our time.  Saint Thomas More High School, although closed for a number of years, impressed upon you, graduates and members of the Alumni Association, the significance of faithful citizenship, the obligation to profess and live our holy Faith constantly and courageously, and the lasting contribution and value of Catholic education. 
           
In his Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul declared: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth” (Eph 5:8-9).  This exhortation applies to all who have been transformed by the encounter with Jesus.  Through Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, we receive our mission to live and proclaim our faith; we receive the courage and sustenance necessary to fulfill that mission.  Through prayer we are revitalized for the task entrusted to us; and, whenever we fail through weakness and sin, we are forgiven through the Sacrament of Penance and granted the encouragement to resume the work of giving witness to Jesus.  All of this―this wonderful relationship with God and the good fruits which are produced by our union with Him―is made clear to us through Catholic education.  You, my friends, have been formed by Catholic education and now, in gratitude for the gift which you have received, you make this gift possible for youth of our present day.  The torch―the brilliant Light of Christ―which was handed to you, you in turn hand on to others. 
           
In this generous task, you have no better patron than Saint Thomas More,  a man passionately transformed by his love for Christ and His Church who lived at a time when forces in society sought to suppress―even destroy―the Catholic Faith.  Venerable John Paul II described Thomas More as, “a model layman, living the Gospel to the full... a fine scholar and an ornament to his profession, a loving husband and father, humble in prosperity, courageous in adversity, humorous and godly” (Pope John Paul II, Prayers and Devotions, p. 232).  As we observe the seventy-fifth anniversary of the canonization of Saint Thomas More, we honor a martyr whose courage flowed from a serene spirit and clear conscience.  Well-formed in the light of truth, the truths of our holy Catholic faith, Saint Thomas More could not consent to the Oath of Supremacy in which King Henry VIII declared himself Supreme Head of the Church in England.  Though countless others succumbed to pressure, Thomas More―along with the ascetic and brilliant Bishop of Rochester, Saint John Fisher ―adamantly refused.  After having all of his property confiscated, his family reduced to poverty, his many months in prison and, finally being sentenced to death, Thomas never bore ill will to King Henry VIII.  Rather, as he so simply stated before his execution, that he “died the King’s good servant but God’s first” (quoted in Peter Ackroyd, The Life of Thomas More, p. 405). 
           
The witness of Saint Thomas More―his life in the public sphere guided by the unwavering practice of his unshakeable faith―remains a model for all.   Throughout his whole life, Thomas More was inspired by our Catholic faith.  He matured in belief, he was sustained by worship, he was strengthened by self-discipline and penance, he was comforted by gazing upon the face of Christ.  This witness in so many ways describes the purpose of Catholic education―to instill Catholic values in our children so that, formed by the light of the Gospel and instructed in all disciplines, they may have stability in times of turmoil, security in hardship, hope and guidance in every difficulty, and that surety of belief in Christ, who promised to be with His Church until the end of time.
           
As we advance more deeply into this Lenten season, and as our observance of the Passion of our Lord draws nearer, let us make our own the words of a prayer composed by Saint Thomas More as he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.  The great martyr prayed: “Give me Your grace, good Lord, to set the world at nought, to set my mind fast upon You....To be joyful of tribulations, to walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.  To bear the cross with Christ. To have continually in my mind the passion that Christ suffered for me; for His benefits incessantly to give Him thanks” (from “A Godly Meditation,” printed in Manual of Prayers, Pontifical North American College).

Today we give incessant thanks to God for all the benefits bestowed upon His Church through Catholic education and through the great role played by Saint Thomas More High School in the history of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Amen.