Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 25, 2020
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
I was a 21 year old college student the first time I heard the “I’m Third” message. God first, others second, I’m third. I was working at a summer camp in the Ozark mountains of Missouri. The director of the camp read today’s gospel passage from Matthew 22:34-40. He then told the story of Johnny Ferrier, a highly decorated, retired veteran Air Force pilot, who flew with an air exhibition team called the Minutemen. On June 7, 1958, in Dayton, Ohio, the Minutemen were flying above an airshow crowd in a formation called the fleur-de-lis. Johnny turned hard left, his rudder stuck, and he began to spiral. His commander immediately gave the order “Bail out Johnny!”
Knowing that ejecting from the plane would allow it to crash into the houses below, Johnny held tight to the stick. Unable to reach the radio, his only way to communicate was with blips of smoke saying, “Yes, I hear you, but I’m not bailing out and letting the people in those houses die.” Johnny crashed into an empty lot sparing those lives. He lived out the Gospel message Jesus gives us today.
Tears filled my eyes, and a big lump formed in my throat that day. I remember letting the truth of that message sink into my heart, which had been far from living the “I’m third” lifestyle. Honestly, at that time I was more interested in what I could get for myself than what I could give to others. Now I wanted to live like Johnny, who was “I’m Third” to the very end. I realized his story was only a small example of the greatest “I’m Third” story ever told, Jesus loving each of us enough to die on the cross. God first. Others second. I’m third.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you sent your Son into the world, not to upend the law, but to fulfill it. We rejoice in the knowledge that above all else you have commanded us to love. Thank you, Lord, for the kindness and wisdom of this law. May we spend our lives focused on these two great commandments. Come Holy Spirit, help us to love.
Saint of the Day
St. John Houghton was the first of England’s martyrs to be killed under King Henry’s revolt from the Catholic faith.
John was born in 1486 and educated at Cambridge. He joined the Carthusian order of monks in 1515, and in 1531 was elected to lead the community’s monastery in London.
Three years later, King Henry VIII enacted the Act of Succession, which attempted to legitimize his second marriage and the children it produced (namely Elizabeth, who was later to become queen). The act was accompanied by a requirement that all subjects swear an oath recognizing it and the king’s supremacy.
As the act stood in contradiction to Church teaching on marriage and divorce, John requested an exemption for his community. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
After several months of imprisonment, a compromise was reached that allowed Catholics to take the oath in good conscience by adding the phrase, “as far as the law of Christ allows.”
Soon afterwards, however, Henry declared himself the head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy. Again, all subjects were forced to swear an oath to acknowledge this second act; John and several other Carthusian leaders refused and asked for an exemption. They were arrested by Thomas Cromwell and thrown into prison again. In 1535, they were condemned to death, and on May 4 of that year, they were hanged, drawn, and quartered; John was the first to suffer.
They were taken to the place of their execution while still wearing their habits. St. Thomas More, also imprisoned for refusing the oath, could see John and his fellow Carthusians being drawn (dragged) by horse to their fate. Thomas’ daughter was visiting at the time, and he said to her, “Look, Meg! These blessed Fathers be now as cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms to their marriage!"
After being hanged nearly to death, and before being quartered, the executioner tore open John’s habit to expose his chest. John exclaimed, “O Jesus, what would you do with my heart?”
John was the first Carthusian martyr, and the first among the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. The 40 Martyrs are representative of the hundreds of Catholics who were tortured and killed in this dispute between England and the Church between 1535 and 1679. In 1970, the Church selected 40 from among these martyrs—men and women, laypeople, ordained, and religious—to represent the 300 or so who died. In Wales, these saints are honored today; in England they are celebrated on May 4.
St. John Houghton, you gave your heart to Jesus and your life for the truth—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John Houghton is in the public domain. Last accessed October 4, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
