Good day, and welcome to “Communion of Saints†from stjeromeschapel.org. I’m your host, Micah Jackson. Today is November 17th, 2005: The Feast of St. Hugh of Lincoln.
Today’s reading from the epistle to Titus doesn’t give us an easy path to follow. We’re told “Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.†(Titus 1:7-8, 11-14) But before we get discouraged that such a teaching is impossible to follow, let us remember the example of St. Hugh of Lincoln, who walked this thin line throughout his life.
Hugh was born into a noble French family in the middle of the 12th century. He joined the Carthusian order, by many accounts the strictest monastic order in the Church, at the age of 25, eventually rising to leadership of their motherhouse. At the invitation of King Henry II, he came to England to head the new Carthusian monastery at Witham. He did so well that Henry prevailed upon him to become bishop of Lincoln. And here his story turns sharply from the ordinary holiness of the Christian monk to the kind of heroic faith we recognize as saintly.
Though pushed from his hermitage to the administrative leadership of a whole diocese, he continued to follow the discipline of his order as much as he could. He was famous for his sunny disposition that tended to disarm people he was speaking to. But he was no pushover. He maintained a steadfast belief in ecclesiastical independence and Christian virtue. He took the side of the people in a controversy with the royal foresters, and flatly refused to raise money for Richard I’s wars.
Even during his lifetime he was revered for his holiness, being recognized as a living saint. You, too, will deserve this reputation if you find ways to follow his example of uncompromising commitment to Christian virtues, letting your life serve as an example of their value, while refusing to scorn or dismiss those among whom you are called to live and work.
Let us pray: O holy God, you endowed your servant and bishop Hugh of Lincoln with wise and cheerful boldness, and taught him to commend the discipline of holy life to kings and princes: Grant that we also, rejoicing in the Good News of your mercy, and fearing nothing but the loss of you, may be bold to speak the truth in love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thank you for listening to Communion of Saints. Please join us tomorrow at stjeromeschapel.org for the feast of Saint Hilda of Whitby. I’m Micah Jackson. May God be with you.
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