"I show you the times"

"Thomas More," Hans Holbein

We don't face martyrdom, yet

So says St. Thomas More to the Earl of Norfolk in "A Man for All Seasons," after demonstrating to the somewhat lunkheaded Earl just how dangerous England had become for faithful Catholics since King Henry VIII's declaration of war against the Pope.

Things have not reached such a perilous point in America, at least not yet, but frank contempt for religion in general and Christianity in particular is on the rise.  Indeed, a survey of recent US court cases claims to demonstrate that hostility towards religion has grown to "unprecedented" levels.  Evidence of  hostility is certainly not hard to find.  We recently encountered the following during a short drive through Manhattan:

1) A young man wearing a white t shirt with "ficTion" imprinted upon it in red, the middle t printed so as to denote a cross;

2) A fashion photoshoot on the top steps of St. Cyril and Methodius Church.  It appeared to be a guerilla operation, but the indifference on the part of photographer, models and crew to profaning a place others quite obviously consider holy was notable, and chilling.

St. Thomas More, pray for us.