 | | | Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York April 20. (CNS photo/Mike Segar, Reuters) | |
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Today we recall the bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the church in the United States: its first great chapter of growth. In these 200 years the face of the Catholic community in your country has changed greatly. We think of the successive waves of immigrants whose traditions have so enriched the church in America. We think of the strong faith which built up the network of churches, educational, health care and social institutions which have long been the hallmark of the church in this land.
We think also of those countless fathers and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls and the incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only taught generations of children how to read and write but also inspired in them a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him.
How many "spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God" have been offered up in these two centuries! In this land of religious liberty Catholics found freedom not only to practice their faith, but also to participate fully in civic life, bringing their deepest moral convictions to the public square and cooperating with their neighbors in shaping a vibrant, democratic society.
Today's celebration is more than an occasion of gratitude for graces received. It is also a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom in order to build a future of hope for coming generations.
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own, to proclaim his glorious works" (1 Pt 2:9). These words of the apostle Peter do not simply remind us of the dignity which is ours by God's grace; they also challenge us to an ever greater fidelity to the glorious inheritance which we have received in Christ (cf. Eph 1:18). They challenge us to examine our consciences, to purify our hearts, to renew our baptismal commitment to reject Satan and all his empty promises. They challenge us to be a people of joy, heralds of the unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God's word and trust in his promises.
Each day throughout this land you and so many of your neighbors pray to the Father in the Lord's own words: "Thy kingdom come." This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs to create new "settings of hope" (cf. "Spe Salvi," 32ff) where God's kingdom becomes present in all its saving power.
Praying fervently for the coming of the kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its presence and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ's victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness.
It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since as the Second Vatican Council put it, "there is no human activity -- even in secular affairs -- which can be withdrawn from God's dominion" ("Lumen Gentium," 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
And this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the successor of St. Peter sets before you today. As "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation," follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God's kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our day too the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid foundations, the future of the church in America must even now begin to rise!
Yesterday, not far from here, I was moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ which I saw on the faces of the many young people assembled in Dunwoodie. They are the church's future, and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give them. And so I wish to close by adding a special word of encouragement to them.
My dear young friends, like the seven men, "filled with the Spirit and wisdom" whom the apostles charged with care for the young church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, "the same, yesterday and today and forever" and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. "Gaudium et Spes," 10; Heb 13:8).
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
