A month from now, on July 4, the United States will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “when our country claimed its place among the family of nations,” an occasion for giving thanks “for what has been achieved” and asking divine help “for the work that still remains.” [Collect for Independence Day, U.S. Roman Missal].
As Americans, we share in the benefits bequeathed to us by the founders of this country, whose legacy we receive with respect and celebrate with gratitude. We are ourselves or are the heirs of immigrants who came to this country in response to its promises of economic opportunity, political freedom, and religious liberty. For generations, Catholic immigrants have brought our faith to this land and enriched this society with a strong network of Catholic institutions, which have served Americans of all backgrounds, contributing a distinctly Catholic sensibility to the American experiment.
In keeping with that Catholic sensibility, the U.S. Bishops will next week consecrate the United States to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to Portland's Archbishop Alexander Sample: "As we reflect with gratitude on the blessings God has bestowed on our country, our devotion to the Sacred Heart demands that we consider how we might foster truth, justice, and charity in American life. We are called to bring our faith into the actions we take and the lives we lead in our communities. We celebrate the ways the Church has contributed to a more just world, and we invite all in our society to see the face of Christ reflected in each sister and brother. We welcome God’s 'kingdom of justice, fraternity and solidarity' [Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te, 16]. remembering that 'God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest [Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te, 16].This anniversary and consecration will be a great opportunity to promote the beautiful devotion to the Sacred Heart and to encourage the laity to offer their lives in service to God and their country."
As this special anniversary approaches, we are all well aware of the many difficult and divisive issues facing our country, along with the contentious arguments that command the news and dominate social media. In response to the pervasive political polarization of his own time, Servant of God, Isaac Hecker (1819-1888) hoped that, as he said to Blessed Pope Pius IX, Catholicism could “act like oil on troubled waters” and so “sustain our institutions and enable our young country to realize its great destiny” [Letter, December 22, 1857, The Paulist Vocation, p. 46]. Despite the difficulties that continue to cloud our country's horizons, our faith challenges us to make Hecker’s hope a reality in response to the multiple challenges of our time.
Those challenges are many and do not admit easy or one-dimensional solutions. Disagreements are to be expected. As Catholics and as citizens, we are called to address our disagreements in a morally serious way that transcends simplistic sloganeering, emotional appeals to narrowly defined secular or religious identities, and the vilification of political opponents, immigrants, and others. As our American bishops reminded us over a decade ago: “Catholics may choose different ways to respond to compelling social problems, but we cannot differ on our moral obligation to help build a more just and peaceful world through morally acceptable means, so that the weak and vulnerable are protected and human rights and dignity are defended.” [USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (1915), 20].
I am old enough to remember our country's Bicentennial celebration 50 years ago, especially the flotilla of "Tall Ships" sailing through New York Harbor and up the Hudson and the same city's exuberant evocation of its history as a city of generations of immigrants. The contrast between the elegance of the "Tall Ships" and spectacle of pseudo-gladatorial combat on the White House lawn is not just a matter of aesthetics, but speaks directly to the moral and social diminishment of our political culture in these last 50 years.
Although it may seem now almost like a golden age in retrospect, in fact 1976 was not really the best of times either. Now as then, our impending celebration of our 250th anniversary challenges us to a renewed search for solidarity and a recovery of mutual trust.
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