August 26, 2003 A Call to Sacrifice

by Fr. Jonathan Wilson
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Let's begin with a prayer... (Prayer)

I want to begin with a brief scripture passage. It's something very familiar I'm sure, the call of peter and Andrew

Scripture reading (Matthew 4:19-20): And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

These call passages are all throughout scripture. And when I was thinking on becoming a priest I was reflecting on these and thinking of the commitment that Christ demands on his disciples. Our call to follow Christ involves the whole of our life. As we reflect on the life of St. Edmund Campion let's keep in mind that the total call of Christ applies to all of us.


To be a faithful Catholic requires sacrifice. If you haven't experienced that yet I'm sure you will. As our culture moves away from the Judeo Christian values upon which it was founded and has stood, our Catholic faith feels a bit left behind because we're still rooted in the same beliefs and values upon which our culture was founded.

The word sacrifice is based on a Latin word sacrificium which comes from the two root words sacer, meaning 'sacred' and the root facere, meaning 'to make', in other words 'to make sacred. So it's to make a something holy for God.

In terms of our culture all I have to do is name some of the controversial issues the Church finds itself in. Male priesthood, opposition to abortion, embryonic research, pornography, the list goes on and on and on. With all of this we perhaps find ourselves uncomfortable when people say, "Why are you so backwards and against progress?" If we don't know why the Church believes what she does, we may find ourselves caught up with going with the tide.


Tonight's example is someone who didn't go with the tide of his day.

I grew up in the same period as many of you here. I grew up watching Sesame Street or the Brady bunch. I listened to U2, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. We have a lot of common. The defining tragedy was the blowing up of the Challenger.

As a Catholic in the 80's and 90's a student had it different then when our parents or grandparents were taught. There was an emphasis on feelings and emotions. We may not have been taught the real meaning of Catholic faith so we were left without answers to the 'Why do you do that?' questions.

Our model for this is St. Edmund Campion. Why do we talk of the saints? They pray for us, they are where we want to be, we try to imitate their virtue. They are masters of divine grace. If you look at artwork you can see the sense of awe in it. The saint is a masterpiece of God and we also give God glory when we reflect upon the lives of the Saints.

Why St. Campion? He lived in a difficult time under the rule of Queen Elizabeth. We can look to him in that age when we are called upon to make sacrifices. He sacrificed his career and even his life.


The book that I have taken my reflections from is St. Edmund Campion: Jesuit and Martyr. The author did the very last thing anyone thought he would do, he became Catholic. He wrote a beautiful portrait of St. Edmund and it's out of print but it exists in "seconds" if you don't mind a damaged copy or re-printed as "St. Edmund Campion: Priest and Martyr".

It was the summer of '66, not 1966 but 1566. Queen Elizabeth I made the first official visit to Oxford. She wanted to win over the scholars who had Catholic sentiments. During this visit there was a young scholar who was brilliant and he gave a speech which caught her attention. He was Edmund Campion. He was a fellow at St. John's College in England. In coming to Oxford he was caught up in the times and he was required to recognize Elizabeth as the head of the Church, he was studying to be a priest in the Anglican church at that time. He was born in 1540.

At this time he was required to begin studying for his priesthood. He was putting it off because hew as conflicted with the Church of England. Part of his study was to study the "fathers of the Church" and he was beginning to learn that the history of the Church was in continuity with the Catholic Church. He knew he couldn't follow through with his becoming a Anglican priest.

So, he quit and went to Dublin Ireland to figure out these questions and he finally converted to the Church at that time. The Catholics at that time had the unfortunately circumstance of living with a saint who was a Pope. He did something very difficult to the English Catholics, he excommunicated the queen of England which in turn excommunicated the English people. She was concerned her subjects would then overturn her.

Edmund then fled Ireland and went the Netherlands. There was a seminary there that was designed to make priests and send them to England at a time when it was illegal to be a priest in England.

Edmund decided to join the society of Jesus, the Jesuits. That took him to Rome and ultimately to Prague where he was formed as a member of the Jesuits. The best tool they had in the protestant reformation was to create good schools. And this was one of them in Prague.


During that time Edmund gave up all hope of an English mission because the Jesuits never sent priests to England. But soon after he was ordained he got a letter saying that he was being sent to England. This letter was a death sentence because the only place you could go when you got there was the Tower of London. You could just hope to do as much as you could before you were caught.

Edmund and one other were sent. He said to his former teacher, "As for me all is over, I have made a free oblation of myself to his majesty and I hope you will give me grace in hopes to perform. And this is all I desire."

I don't want to give you the impression that Catholics were the good guys and the Protestants were the bad guys because 5 years earlier Mary Tutor as queen maintained Catholicism but was cruel to the Protestants. This account is more about this difficult time in history. Catholics were taken for not attending their local church. Some had to take an oath of allegiance. Parents were forbidden to send their children to study abroad.

After the excommunication things got worse. Now it was high treason to bring into the country a papal document or even to go to confession. It was also high treason to bring into the country objects of devotion like a rosary. The purpose of the legislation was to outlaw and ruin the Catholic community. None but the wealthy were free from giving up their rights.

At the beginning of his arrival in England, Edmund wrote his will and testament. In case he was caught he wanted to make sure his mission was seen as spiritual in nature. It was known as "Campion's brag"

And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league—all the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practice of England—cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God; it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: So it must be restored

He made one mistake, however, he didn't seal the envelope. The one to whom he gave it to, read it, liked it, copied it and spread it throughout London and England. It was encouraging for the Catholics to know that someone was there, but for officials it was a source of alarm. And now there was a great hunt for Edmund.

They knew about friars and monks but Jesuits were new. They were like the Delta Force in the American armed forces, they are new, use the most state-of-the-art techniques and they were hard to capture. He began to minister to English Catholics by spending about one night at a time at one place. His routine was to come in for a meal, spend the evening hearing confessions; resolving matters of conscience. And in the morning he would have a Mass and be off disguised as an English gentleman of moderate means. So he didn't have a roman collar on.


The scholars of the Anglican church wanted to respond to his 'brag' so they issued a pamphlet accusing the Jesuits of many things so Campion felt he needed to respond. While on the run and in hiding, they published a response to the accusations and it made it out within two weeks of the accusation's publication and that made the government very nervous. Since they could do it so quickly.

For us who are used to the Internet and quick responses just think of how long it took in typesetting this pamphlet. The English government was upset by this so they increased the penalties against Catholics. Jesuits and priests must be surrendered and anyone harboring them was guilty of sedition.

Campion continued to travel. 100 years later after his death they were still speaking of his homilies in the north of England. At this time he began working on what he called the 'Ten Reasons' it was a more scholarly response to the accusations against the Catholic Church. He had people researching for him in libraries to make the Catholic case credible to those who had fallen away. He printed it and was distributed around Oxford days before graduation. For Catholics this was a great source of encouragement because they had a document that gave them solid reasons why they should be faithful to their Catholic faith.

After Easter of that year, 30 more priests had arrived to continue the mission. There were 20 priests a year coming from that college in the Netherlands and 160 of them ended their ministry on the scaffolding. On July 11, 1581 Edmund campion met with his brothers and superiors for the last time.

He asked permission to go to a town of Lightford; it was known as a Catholic hub. At this time there were professional people called "priest hunters", it was a very lucrative business because they were well rewarded for turning them in. There was always a fear that there would be a priest hunter in the crowd. So his superior was a little nervous about him going to this place, but St. Edmund prevailed upon him that he would be there a brief time.

He had a quiet normal stay and left early in the morning, however, he made one mistake, he made too positive of an impression on the people. (Paraphrased from the book) "That afternoon there were callers, Catholic gossip began. And the women could not contain their news. The famous father had been there. He dressed in such a way, talked in such a manner, it was thus he had said Mass. He was barely 30 miles away at that moment." So a contingent went to bring him back to continue his stay with them. He did so.

This time there was a priest hunter in the crowd. In these times people would have "priest holes", they were secret hiding places where they could hide. If you go there today you can still see them very well hidden. So Edmund and his companions were brought to an apartment. As the priest hunters came to check, they noticed a candle lit behind a hole in the wall and that is where they found them and arrested them. They were paraded through London. And they too were given their free room in the Tower of London, courtesy of the queen.


Unlike the other priests, Edmund was different, he was English, he was one of the scholars. Edmund was brought before the queen. He was questioned about his motives and he said they were merely spiritual in nature. He was given an offer that all he had to do was recognize the queen and become Anglican and he could be raised up in the church of England. His only fault, they said, was being a "papist" and he replied, "Which is my greatest glory" and so he was tortured on the rack.

For the next four months he was consistently racked, stretched on the rack beyond the body's limits. At that time they questioned him on his activities and people he met and he never gave up any information. The Anglican scholars were still mad at his 10 reasons so they wanted to debate him. So here he was racked and dying and they summoned him to conferences to debate on Catholic issues.

On Nov. 20, twelve were charged with high treason, he gave a Nobel defense but it went on deaf ears. He was condemned. His last words.

"It was not our death that we ever feared, But we knew that we were not lords of our own lives, and therefore for want of answer would not be guilty of our deaths. The only thing we have now to say is this, if our religion does make us traitors, we are worthy to be condemned. But as now and have ever been as good subjects the queen has ever had. You condemn us and so you condemn your ancestors. Whatever we have taught that they did not teach? To be condemn with these lights not of England only but of the world is both gladness and glory to us. God lives, posterity will live."

And so 11 days after his trial on December 1, 1581, he was executed. Hung drawn and quartered.

If we stand before such a tale, we are reminded that there are thousands of martyrs in Catholic Tradition who have given their lives for the Faith. We have had martyrs even this year, it remains throughout the world.

As we reflect upon the life of this saint, my hope is that we will be inspired to be faithful to Christ, His Church and His truth. Edmund was born in an age where it was easy to go the way of everyone else. But he pursued the truth and in doing so he gave up his career, prestige and comfort to follow Christ and be faithful to His Church. He sacrificed everything.


It is important to note that his life was not just acts of courage that none of us can imitate. The crowning moment in his life was the result of small sacrifices and fidelities. We don't have to go out and preach but the message is to be faithful in small things so the day we're called to act in greater ways we could do that.

I'm sure St. Edmund would have been happy to work in a school his whole life but that was not God's will for him. How do we respond in our own day? As I mentioned, more and more to be a Roman Catholic requires some form of sacrifice. At work, online, etc. Like the judge nominated for federal court and his pro-life position was called into question as him being too faithful to his Catholic Faith. How do we respond to stuff like this?


I would hope that all of us are studying our Catholic faith. If there are certain things you're uncomfortable with in the Faith, I encourage you to study and learn why the Church teaches what she does. And how it fits with the fathers of the Church and scripture. To know that our Church rests on solid ground is a good thing.

I encourage you o pray, none of this is meaningful without prayer. John Paul II recently did an encyclical on prayer. This was written at the end of the jubilee year. Primarily the Holy Father is calling on the Church to seek holiness. All of this is a waste if we don't grow in prayer. At Vatican II the Church strongly taught that we're all called to be saints. It was thought that the holy were always priests and religious but the Vatican II council said this it not always the case.

Third recommendation, rediscover the sacrament of Confession as an intrigal part of our lives as Christians. As we study we grow in our own self-knowledge, so we grow in the knowledge of our own short-comings we go to confession and we grow in holiness.

Fourth, go to Mass. Enter more deeply into the Mass. As the source of our life as Catholics. The saints wouldn't be able to do what they did without the Eucharist.

Fifth point: Go into the world, one of my favorite lines at Mass is "go in peace", not because I'm tired and I want you all to go, but because Jesus said "Go, baptize all nations..." at the end of Mass we are sent. The priest is saying go and transform the world. That's the call of the laity in work and everywhere. And then it seems it cycles as we're in the world we need to study more, need to pray and find more reasons to go to confession and more reasons to go to Mass so it cycles.

St. Edmund Campion Pray for us.

Question: How important do you think is it nowadays to convert others to the Catholic Faith?

Good question... In today's age we have a deeper appreciation for the presence of Christ in other Christian communities. To the degree that they exist, we recognize them. As Catholics, though, our posture should always be in humility in a sense of welcoming our brothers and sisters in Christ into the full communion with Christ. It's not that we try to rob them from their churches but we give them a witness of faith that causes them to ask, "Why are you Catholic?" And we should be prepared to give a reason. I would say we should never be ashamed of our Faith, we shouldn't shy away from our belief because it's not us, but it's God, but at the same time have respect for what is true and good.

Question: how did you select this saint to talk about?

One I knew most of you hadn't heard of him so if I messed up the details I'd be okay. heh.. Mostly because I love this book, it is very well written and reading this I was inspired and there are certain parallels to today. We don't think of Catholics in England as experiencing this type of persecution. There is now a Campion College in oxford.

Question: Perhaps you could elaborate on a situation in the workplace that it's taboo to talk about religion in the workplace. The internet policy at work said we are not allowed to use it for political or religious purposes.

A quote from the Holy Father in his recent document, he talks about our call to evangelization but in the context to the call of charity. Evangelization is a form of charity, charity of words. We are saturated with words. And so the question is, we have all these messages especially with the internet and cable. People are inundated with words, in order for the charity of words to be effective, we need a charity of works. We need to perform works of charity and so people will be open to hearing our words.

My first recommendation would be a saint in your workplace. So people will know there is someone there who is good and they'll want to know why. These are things we'll have to deal with as religion is viewed as a source of division. But Catholics claim this is our unity in Christ. And we'll just have to work with what we can. Take hope from people like St. Edmund Campion who printed a 20,000 word document while traveling on the road in England of the 16th Century.

Question: How did Fr. Campion fulfill the criteria for canonization?

He was canonized in 1970 by Paul VI after the Second Vatican council. It was done this way so this saint should not be interpreted as "Catholics are good Anglicans are bad, look what you did to our saint" since the council put forth so much information ecuminism. I don't know the actual process but I know that it would not have been done for political purposes.

Question: Can you give us guidelines on preparation for Confession.

I won't overwhelm you but ... (holding up the Catechism). If you haven't read this book in your spare time, I highly recommend it. I would hope you all have a copy of it anyway. It has an awesome index especially if you're wondering about sins.

In there is the 10 commandments and this book has the best commentary on them.. Become familiar with them.

The other thing is that the priest will meet you where you are. This is the sacrament that we grow in. Tell the priest it's been a while and he will be rejoicing. He will help you through it if you have questions. There are booklets too that include examinations of conscience. The priest may even take you through the 10 commandments. "Have you done this?" Yeah, "Have you done this?" Yeah.

The Mary foundation has a free tape on confession.