The Call To Endure

That violent movie Gangs of New York is on TV this evening.  It is a hard one to watch and it questionable whether faint hearts should look at it - there are better things to be doing.  That said, it reveals an ugly side of American history where, in what was called "the land of the free", a minority group were persecuted for their religious faith and ethnic background - the so-called natives and the Catholic immigrants.  The violent fiction of the movie tries to portray the battles between the two groups in the Five Points area of New York.

Catholics in the US were discriminated against.  A reading of the life of St Elizabeth Anne Seton reveals that all too well - her conversion brought her many enemies, though she eventually won hearts by her heroic charity and deep love for the poor and sick whom she served without any regard for distinction: they were all the children of God in need.

That love of St Elizabeth Anne is present in many Catholics who serve the common good in New York and the US, but will these examples of pure charity touch the hearts of those intent on persecuting the Catholic faith and its teachings?  The new motivation for persecution of Catholics in New York and the US will be, as it is becoming in many other countries notably Canada, Spain, the UK and soon, Ireland, is homosexualism.  I note with particular interest the sermon delivered by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York (see here). 

The Archbishop seems to be rallying Catholics and Christians in general, to the defence of the faith and to prepare for the worst.  If he is right, then the "land of the free" will, in historical terms, have guaranteed Catholics a very short period of freedom, respect and toleration given that Catholics were only accepted as real citizens in the early decades of the 20th century.  The "land of the free"?  Sometimes it is dangerous to proclaim such titles, they may prove ironic (and untrue) in the long run.

Of course the same could be said for Europe.  The EU, or the organisation which became the EU, was founded by good Catholics, one of whom is being considered for sainthood, and yet now the powers that be in the EU are radically secular and determined to diminish the freedoms of the Catholics. 

How do we respond?  With fidelity and charity, and with the resolution to carry whatever cross comes for Christ's sake.  I am impressed by the Archbishop's final words: they remind me of what Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko would have said, indeed Oscar Romero, Shahbaz Bhatti and St John Fisher.

“Like St. Thomas More, we’re willing to take the heat and even lose our head from following a conscience properly formed by God’s revelation and the teaching of His Church, even if it is politically incorrect, and clashes with the King’s demands to re-define marriage,”

Time to stick together, to support each other, to rally around those bishops who are being faithful and speaking out, and time for prayer and sacrifice.