0204 John Speed d. 1594

Jack and Thom,
Good morning, I love you
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About an other hour of writing time before I have errands to run then proposals to put together. February fourth continues a string of Johns…. Two English Martyrs and one Jesuit India martyr.

February 4

Bl John Speed d. 1594
Aka John Spence

It was not uncommon for our priests in sixteenth century England to adopt pseudonyms. They had to do their duty, follow their vocation in peril for their lives – in peril from friends and family members alike. To hide in plain sight because those who are closest to them would just as likely turn them in, the ultimate rejection of their familial bond and the unity of their initial faith. Or, in your case, turned in, turned away, by some who are family but not now or ever Catholic. How far must you go to be true to the One True Faith? Further than the English martyrs?

John Speed, a layman, used to escort St. Fr. John Boste from one Catholic house to another. As in sixteenth century England, today you don’t have to be a priest or a particularly pious Catholic to be identified as an outlier, an outcast. Providing the simplest service to our Church, to Catholics or to people serving Catholics will identify you as someone to be ostracized.

John Speed was offered inducements to ‘act like the rest of us,’ to conform to the prevalent, the majority religion. You are faced with the same challenges in protestant, anti-catholic GSO. John Speed is a man to help you be the person you were baptized to become, to remain constant in our faith.

John Speed is one of the “Durham Martyrs.” Durham. Remember your faith tradition when you drive by Durham NC or when you get wrapped up in a Duke game.

I love you,
Dad
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