State and Church

Today the church community remembers the English martyrs.
In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries a very large number of men and women were executed for their catholic faith in England and Wales.
Henry VIII had made himself head of the church in England.
Many refused to accept this as a matter of conscience. Famous among them are St Thomas Moore and St John Fisher.
However, the full real number of these martyrs will probably never be fully known.
Jesus spoke about giving to Cesar what is Cesar’s and to God what is God’s.

As citizens we have a moral responsibility to be good law-abiding citizens.

However, as was the case in England in the times just mentioned, there are times when there is a clash between God’s law and State Law.

When all else fails in the end we all need to follow our conscience. Just because something is legal it does not necessarily make it right.

Of course, it’s important to have dialogue and intelligent conversation. This not about obstinate digging of heals.
It is about what is morally right and what is not.
Popularism is often not balanced enough in its perception.
As a church, we of course need to continually reflect and discern what God is saying to us today. We cannot ignore the difficult questions, Jesus did not!!