The king's good servant, but God's first

Saturday Post

Jun 13, 2026

Good morning and happy Saturday.

The first thing I want to encourage you to do today is check out Brandy Holt’s first article in Cor Fidei. It is available now to all subscribers, but soon, free subscribers will have to wait at least a week before they can read other articles. Brandy’s first post touches on how faith makes us whole.

Cor Fidei

Brandy Holt

Jun 12

JMJ Faith is a central theme of the Gospel and of our lives as Catholics. Yet, its importance in the life of a Christian is something that often gets overlooked, forgotten, or, as I would argue, misunderstood. Faith isn’t just a general, underlying belief that God exists. That’s definitely part of it, but the invi…

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This week, I am heading to the UK with my father-in-law and several other members of my wife’s family for a much-anticipated vacation. As such, there will be no daily news from June 18th to June 25th.

I am blessed to be in England, and in close proximity to London, on Monday, June 22nd; that is the memorial of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher.

More, a layman, and Fisher, a cardinal, are both martyrs of the English Reformation. They were both beheaded by Henry VIII for refusing to accept him as the head of the Church instead of the Pope of Rome.

Though their deaths were tied to their defiance of the King of England, their witness is important to us today. They showed courage to reject that which tried to supersede their faith in God and in the Church.

We see these types of temptations pull at us today: politics, popularity, wealth. There are countless things saying, “simply bow down to me, and all will be well.” That sounds like a familiar line from the Gospel, doesn’t it?

Fortunately for us, still here on Earth, we have nearly countless saints as intercessors whom we can look to as examples of how to respond to these temptations, and of course, our Lord himself.

More, in his writings while imprisoned in the tower, reflected greatly on Psalm 91, which details the psalmist’s trust in the Lord despite trials and tribulations and the eventual rescue by God:

Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will rescue him and honor him. (91:14-14)

This is the same theme that we see in the temptations of Jesus in Luke 4. When power is offering you a way out, and refusing means death, how do you know you are following God’s plan? Jesus’ answer is simple:

“You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” (4:8)

This doesn’t mean we can seek success or be patriotic, but that which we seek must be pointed to God. That is one of the reasons the US bishops this week consecrated our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All that we have comes from him, and all that we are belongs to him.

Fisher died several days before More, and both are buried in unmarked graves at the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. This week and the next, I hope you will join me in reflecting on what it means to resist temptation, particularly those that mean some death to ourselves, as these two saints did.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The readings for Mass this Sunday are: Exodus 19:2-6, Psalm 100, Romans 5:6-11, and Matthew 9:36-10:8.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, we are in Psalter Week III. In the Office of Readings, we will be reading through the Book of Judges.

Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:

Friday, June 19 - Memorial of St. Romuald, abbot (optional)

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.

Mark 1:15

Have a good weekend,

Matthew

Cor Fidei

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The king's good servant, but God's first

Saturday Post

Cor Fidei

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the news:

The United States

The Vatican

The World

Discussion about this post

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