249th Birthday of our Nation

My Dear Parishioners,

This Independence Day Weekend we celebrate the 249^th Birthday of our Nation, and we look forward to our nation’s 250^th birthday next year. So, maybe it is a good time to recall our nation’s last big birthday in 1976. For those of us who were alive and can remember 1976, it certainly was a special year, wasn’t it? (Yes, I was alive and about 9 years old.)

1976 was the 200^th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We celebrated our Bicentennial with great joy and great fanfare across the country. We especially celebrated right here in the Philadelphia area—the birthplace of our great Nation. Do you remember that even the Queen of England came here to Philadelphia to help us celebrate?

Moreover, thanks to television (we had an RCA floor model, and of course, no internet in those days!), we could watch and be part of Bicentennial events from across the country, such as the parade of tall ships and the events in Boston and Washington, DC and fireworks and concerts from across the nation.

1976 was also the occasion of an International Eucharistic Congress right here in Philadelphia. Was anyone able to attend?

The theme of the International Eucharistic Conference was “The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family.” The weeklong event was attended by well over a million of the Faithful, along with many cardinals and bishops from around the world. Among the attendees were future saints such as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II), Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Servant of God Dorothy Day, and the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

There were Masses that filled Veterans Stadium and JFK Stadium. There was also a candlelight procession on the Ben Franklin Parkway attended by some 350,000 of the Faithful. The Church of Philadelphia was at its best.

President Gerald Ford came and addressed the Eucharistic Congress at is closing:

Your Eminence Cardinal Knox, Papal Legate for His Holiness Pope Paul, Your Eminence Cardinal Krol, I distinguished clergy from all over the world, dear friends: am deeply honored by your invitation to be with you at the conclusion of this 41st International Eucharistic Congress and to reiterate on behalf of all of the people of the United States of America our most heartfelt welcome to our many guests from all over the world.

It is an inspiring demonstration of all the world’s hunger for peace and understanding these Congresses are able to unite citizens of more than 100 nations in common purpose and common prayer.

It is fitting that you gather here in the City of Brotherly Love where 200 years ago my country declared its national independence with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.

That reliance has never failed us and has been reinforced by the equally firm devotion of Americans to freedom of worship and freedom of conscience from all who have come to us throughout the centuries. These fundamental freedoms are not only written into our Constitution and our laws but they are written in our hearts as well.

On this occasion we celebrate the Church’s contribution to building a more peaceful world. We salute you for giving depth and direction to the world community in every age. For millions of men and women the Church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideals.

It has given unity and purpose to the affairs of man. It has been a vital institution for protecting and proclaiming the ultimate values of life itself. We are rightly concerned today about the rising tide of secularism across the world. I share your deep appreciation about the increased irreverence for life.

The supreme value of every person to whom life is given by God is a belief that comes to us from the holy Scriptures confirmed by all the great leaders of the Church. Our commitment to the unique role of the family relationship is also basic to our faith. There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can ever take the place of the family in the scheme of things. The family circle suggests a oneness similar to that of the Church family in that which we strive to achieve in the human family.

I remember a poem that my mother taught me as a young boy, by the great American poet Edwin Markham, which beautifully expressed the determination that we must move towards tolerance to love. It goes like this: “He drew a circle that shut me out; heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win, we drew a circle that took him in.”

I am moved that you have brought me in, within this great circle today, and by the spirit of love and service that animates it, I hope that we all, whatever our country or creed, will continue to draw larger and larger circles until that day in His good time when all God’s people are one.

As we work together for a better world where our brothers and sisters are free from hunger and fear, let us keep our hearts free from pride and. hate in the spirit of this old familiar prayer of the good St. Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me so love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”

God bless and may you have a safe journey to your homes.

The Theme of “The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family” was a great one. For, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Faith, the way we share in the life of the Blessed Trinity here on Earth, the remedy of our weaknesses and our sins, the food that allows us to Love the Lord Our God above all else, the promise of the glory to come.

The Eucharist is also the sacrament of charity which impels us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to see Christ in the faces of others, to defend the weak, to help the poor, to defend life, to defend marriage, to promote chastity, to work for a better, fairer, more God-fearing and God-loving world.

We have so much to be thankful for as Catholics and as Americans. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

As we celebrate our Nation’s independence, let us also celebrate our religious liberty which allowed for the 1976 International Eucharistic Congress and allows us to gather here this weekend.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor