The antidote to fear, pride, and greed

There is one master alone who has the power to set us free from
slavery to sin, fear, pride, and greed, and a host of other hurtful
desires. That master is the Lord Jesus Christ who alone can save us
from all that would keep us bound up in fear and anxiety. Jesus used
an illustration from nature--the birds and the flowers--to show how
God provides for his creatures in the natural order of his creation.
God provides ample food, water, light, and heat to sustain all that
lives and breathes. How much more can we, who are created in the very
image and likeness of God, expect our heavenly Father and creator to
sustain not only our physical bodies, but our mind, heart, and soul as
well? God our Father is utterly reliable because it is his nature to
love, heal, forgive, and make whole again.

============
1 July – Saint Oliver Plunkett

Martyr, Archbishop and Primate of All Ireland, Confessor, Reformer.
Born on 1 November 1629 at Loughenew, County Meath, Ireland and died
by being hanged, drawn, and quartered on 1 July 1681 at Tyburn,
England. PatronageS – archdiocese of Armagh, Irelanda, around 100
Churches, Apostolates, Schools, Sports facilities, Streets and
Estates, even an aeroplane of the national airline.

Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew, County Meath in the midlands of
Ireland on 1 November 1625. At that time in Irish history, Catholics
were being persecuted for their faith by their overlords, England.
Many were evicted from their homes and forbidden to attend Mass. In
all of Ireland there was only one active Bishop. Priests were hunted
down and persecuted. Many fled to Europe. In 1647 Oliver Plunkett had
to go to Rome to study for the priesthood because there were no
Colleges or institutions of learning in Ireland.

In 1647 Oliver went to study for the priesthood under Jesuit guidance
in the Irish College in Rome. Oliver was Ordained a Priest in Rome in
1654. Due to the religious persecution in his native land, it was not
possible for him to return to minister to his people. Oliver remained
in Rome and taught as a Professor of Theology at the Propaganda
College. Because the persecution of Catholics was at a high point in
Ireland, Oliver t could not be Consecrated Archbishop in Ireland but
was Consecrated in Ghent by Bishop Eugene D’Allmont on 1 December
1669. He was installed as the then the Archbishop of Armagh and
Primate of Ireland.

Archbishop Plunkett returned to Ireland and began a ministry of reform
and renewal of clergy and laity for the next eleven years. Archbishop
Plunkett soon established himself as a man of peace and, with
religious fervour, set about visiting his people, establishing
schools, ordaining priests and confirming thousands. During the
reforms he made many enemies, not least among the clergy and it was
one of the renegade priests whom he had censured who later gave
evidence against him at his trial.

1673 brought a renewal of religious persecution and Bishops were
banned by a British Government edict. Archbishop Plunkett went into
hiding, suffering a great deal from cold and hunger. His many letters
showed his determination not to abandon his people but to remain a
faithful shepherd.
The persecution eased slightly for a short while and he was once again
able to move more openly among his people. In 1679 he was arrested and
falsely charged with treason. Oliver was charged with plotting to
bring 20 000 French soldiers to Ireland and levying a tax on the poverty-stricken clergy to support 70 000 armed men.

Such an absurd charge had no chance of sticking in Ireland. The
government in power could not get him convicted at his trial in
Dundalk, Ireland, so they brought him to London where he was again
tried. He was unable to defend himself because he was not given time
to bring his own witnesses from Ireland. Oliver was tried and with the
help of perjured witnesses, was sentenced to death. The Judge, Sir
Francis Pemberton, said in passing judgement: “You have done as much
as you could to dishonour God in this case; for the bottom of your
treason was your setting up your false religion, than which there is
not any thing more displeasing to God, or more pernicious to mankind
in the world”.. He was found guilty of high treason “for promoting the Roman faith.” The jury returned within fifteen minutes with a guilty
verdict and Archbishop Plunkett replied: “Deo Gratias” – Thanks be to God.”

Numerous pleas for mercy were made but Charles II, although himself a
reputed crypto-Catholic, thought it too politically dangerous to spare Plunkett. The French Ambassador to England, Paul Barillon, conveyed a
plea for mercy from his King, Louis XIV. Charles told him frankly that
he knew Plunkett to be innocent but that the time was not right to
take so bold a step as to pardon him. Lord Essex, apparently realising
too late that his intrigues had led to the condemnation of an innocent
man, made a similar plea for mercy. The King, normally the most
self-controlled of men, turned on Essex in fury, saying: “his blood be
on your head – you could have saved him but would not, I would save
him and dare not”.

With deep serenity of soul, Oliver prepared to die, calmly rebutting
the charge of treason, refusing to save himself by giving false
evidence against his brother Irish Bishops. Oliver Plunkett publicly
forgave all those who were responsible for his death.

Oliver was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 July 1681, aged
55, the last Catholic Martyr to die under the English persecutio. His
body was initially buried in two tin boxes, next to five Jesuits who
had died previously, in the courtyard of St Giles in the Fields
Church. The remains were exhumed in 1683 and moved to the Benedictine
Monastery at Lamspringe, near Hildesheim in Germany. The head was
brought to Rome and from there to Armagh and eventually to Drogheda
where since 29 June 1921 it has rested in Saint Peter’s Church. Most
of the body was brought to Downside Abbey, England, where the major
part is located today, with some parts remaining at Lamspringe. On the
occasion of his Canonisation in 1975, his casket was opened and some
parts of his body given to the Cathedral at Drogheda in Ireland.

In 1920 he was declared a Martyr for the Faith and was Beatified on 23
May 1920 in Rome by Pope Benedict XV and Canonised on12 October 1975
by Pope Paul VI,
Oliver was the first Irish Saint for almost seven hundred years and
the first of the Irish Martyrs to be Beatified. For the Canonisation,
the customary second miracle was waived. He has since been followed by
17 other Irish Martyrs who were Beatified by Pope John Paul II in
1992.

As a spectacle alone, a rally and Mass for St Oliver Plunkett at
London’s Clapham Common was a remarkable triumph. The Common was
virtually taken over, for a celebration of the 300th anniversary of Plunkett’s Martyrdom. Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, twenty enrobed bishops
and a number of Abbots mounted a stage beneath a scaffolding shelter
on 1 July 1981. Ó Fiaich had flown there in a helicopter with
Plunkett’s head. The occasion attracted thousands of pilgrims to the
park.

In 1997 Plunkett was made a Patron Saint for peace and reconciliation
in Ireland, adopted by the Prayer |Apostolate campaigning for peace in
Ireland, “St Oliver Plunkett for Peace and Reconciliation.”

https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/01/


Saint Quote:
We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever
ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our
Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church.
--Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Bible Quote:
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)


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Harvest Prayer That All Men May Worship God

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
2 that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalm 67:1-7

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