As people of faith experience a number of challenges in this country’s increasingly secular culture, the lessons of history offer wisdom and encouragement.
A couple of years ago, when we were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Washington, it was my great joy to celebrate Mass at the reconstructed Brick Chapel in Saint Mary’s City, Maryland, as well as on Saint Clement’s Island, where our Catholic ancestors first set foot on these shores in 1634. They had left England and travelled here precisely so that not only could Catholics live their faith without restraint, but others could as well.
The purposeful founding of colonial Maryland as the birthplace of religious freedom in our land in many respects anticipated the founding of our nation on the principle of liberty for all. However, it is one thing to declare that we are a free country and to proclaim that we are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights – including religious liberty – and it is another thing to secure the blessings of freedom.
A few years after religious liberty was established in Maryland, that freedom was lost as those antagonistic to the Catholic Church seized power, closed the original Brick Chapel, and enacted measures essentially outlawing the practice of the Catholic faith. After a bright beginning, things looked bleak. Nevertheless, these intrepid disciples kept the faith, firm in their hope. Despite many harsh obstacles, the Catholic Church overcame and grew.
Similarly, within a few weeks of the Declaration of Independence, it looked as if all might be lost as New York City was captured by the British and General George Washington was forced to retreat again and again in order to preserve the American army. But as Thomas Paine wrote during that perilous time shortly before Christmas 1776, “Though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire” (The Crisis, no. 1).
Certainly the flame kept burning in General Washington. While the British troops were superior in numbers, experience and materiel, the “Father of our country” had something more important – he was steadfast in his resolve. And because of his bold action at Trenton at the darkest hour, the American cause rallied and with that revitalized hope, freedom would eventually be won.
In celebrating the birth and accomplishments of our nation, we remember also that history shows that we cannot take it for granted that our rights and liberties, religious or otherwise, will be respected of their own accord. Instead, as the old adage says, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Freedom – including the freedom to fulfil the Gospel mission entrusted to followers of Jesus Christ to publicly live and proclaim his saving love – is something we must continually work for, and it is not always an easy task. In the face of an aggressive secularism and occasional legal setbacks, we may be tempted to view it as an impossible mission. But Jesus never promised that our work would be easy. On the other hand, we know that in the Lord, we have hope and the power of the Holy Spirit, including the gift of fortitude, to enable us to meet the challenges of the day.
The first Christians also faced oppression and they began as a small band with no great resources, yet they kept the faith, firm in their hope, and thereby managed to transform the world. Like the early Church, our Catholic ancestors in this land, and General Washington and the other founders, come what may, we too will remain ever vigilant and steadfast in determination, firm in our resolve and confident in our hope. In this way, freedom and justice will prevail.
