May 4 John Haughton b. 1487 d. 1535 beat 1886 c. 1970

John and Thommy

good morning, i love you

John Houghton graduated from Cambridge - from that you can know more than a little about the man and his family. a bit more than if i told you a man graduated from the university of alabama in 1972 - tho there are generalizations about that man that are likely to be right on the mark....

John Houghton served as a parish priest for four years after Cambridge. then he joined the Carthusians.... our faith, our religion, our pursuit of our vocation/God's will never stops, we are always growing, listening, following God's word [the Word, inspired of the Spirit]. for John Houghton that took him to Cambridge then to the parish priesthood and then to the most cloistered and more disciplined and, at the time, among the most influential of Catholic priests in England....

John Houghton was elected prior first in Northhampton and then to the top dog at the top house in London.
and from the 'safety' of the cloister in london, the king's men came to the prior and his aid, bl humphry middlemore, and demanded that they, as the leaders, accept, swear by, the act of succession [which, you remember your english history, legitimized Anne Boleyn's children by henry viii. henry viii created a persecution of catholics that continues to this day. if we would simply accept the secular rule of law to be right and sovereign in every circumstance life would be easy and we could get along and we would be [more] accepted. henry's violation of the law of marriage, and creating his own [secular, convenient] law, is not unlike what surrounds you even to this day. Marriage is not an act of state. Marriage is a sacrament of and a covenant with God. to treat it any other way is to not only bring insufficient grace to the relationship but to also create a fissure in the foundation of family and society. when a person reneges on the vow to God of 'til death do us part.... what God has brought together, no one can tear asunder', when a person replaces the sacred church vow/covenant/sacrament with the civil contract, then that person not only severs their relationship with God but creates a life for self and children and extended family that is beyond the grace of God, living in an island relationshp without God, without the Commandments [whether two or ten].... when you study what henry viii did and why he did it, look also at those with multiple "marriages" and see if there's any substantive difference in motive or modus vivandi....]

John Houghton was imprisoned for not accepting the marriage of henry and anne as legit. [what happens to you when you do not accept marriages contrary to church law as legit?] the civil authorities allowed, initially, John Houghton's accepting the Act 'as far as the law of God allows'..... [how are you treated when you look at a marriage and say 'i accept this marriage, as far as the law of God allows? how do you make clear to yourself and to those in your life that the law of God takes precedence?].... it was only a year later that John Houghton was arrested again, this time the people in charge would not allow any equivocation - accept the Act, acknowledge the marriage as legit, or suffer the consequences. how do you find the strenth of faith and fidelity to maintain the primacy of God's law not people's whims and preferences or the civil version of henry viii's version of the meaning of marriage? how to you witness to right and good, encourage the violators of the sacrament and the faith, when you say 'i will accept this marriage as the law of God permits.'?

John Houghton and three Carthusian friars were treated savagely - teach them and the rest of you Catholics a lesson! - dragged through the streets. When the sentence to be hung, drawn, and quartered was read, John Houghton prayed "and what will you do with my heart, O Christ?" . John Houghton's body was chopped into pieces and hung in various parts of London. no subtle message that! how will you use God's grace to withstand much less torture and still proclaim what is right? it's not what happens to your body or your status or your comfy relationships that is crucial. it's what you do with your heart. do you sacrifice your own heart and soul, your own relationship with God, your own grace and good standing, in order to accommodate a potentate in your life who's marriage violates God's law but you are expected to accept, acknowledge, and comply with....?

John Houghton is a saint for our age, no doubt about it.....

i love you
dad

p.s.
try this link for an article about the Cathusian martyrs
http://soli.inav.net/~jfischer/jun99/barrybossa.html