Articles by Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito
This 'Fortnight for Freedom'
Jun 28, 2012 / 00:00 amAs we approach the celebration of the Fourth of July, we have already begun the “Fortnight for Freedom” invoked by the U.S. bishops as a two-week period of prayer and reflection upon the freedom of religion which we possess in our great nation. The fortnight, which began June 21 and will conclude July 4, is an opportunity for us to come together across the nation and to celebrate what Pope Benedict XVI has referred to as the “most cherished of American freedoms” – religious liberty. It is also a time for us to be keenly aware of and to stand firm in countering the threats that are weakening our treasured right to practice and live our faith as is the birthright of our nation.We can clearly perceive the threat to this most cherished freedom in the mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to facilitate and fund abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception in the insurance policies provided through the Catholic Church. However, this is not the only threat to religious liberty and is part of the overall tendency to misunderstand what religious liberty is, as well as what it means for a person to practice one’s faith.This threat is also perceived in other limitations upon Church outreach to families, immigrants, victims of human trafficking, the infirm and the needy because of our unwillingness to provide what is contrary to our moral teachings and convictions. The threat to religious liberty is much larger than any single issue. It is also not a “Catholic,” issue but one that is fundamental to all men and women of all faiths within our nation as American citizens. It is an “American” issue.We are very blessed to live in a country where our freedom is protected. Religious freedom is the most basic of all our freedoms and is first in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. Religious liberty is the basis for the founding of our country and the very reason that the Pilgrims fled to our shores and sacrificed their lives. Because we have lived in times in which this freedom has not been challenged, it is too easy to take for granted this right for which so many before us struggled and even died.For many reasons of culture and philosophy, the understanding of religion and its practice is becoming obscured in our society and so there are real threats now present which we have not faced in recent times. Religious faith and its practice cannot be taken for granted and we must be resolved in our defense of our cherished freedom to practice our faith, especially in the context of a secular culture which many times is opposed to its basic beliefs.History has witnessed many instances of blatant disregard for religious liberty which has resulted in devastating persecution. The calendar of the Church’s liturgical year is marked with frequent celebrations of martyrs who have stood firm in the practice and profession of their faith. The Lord himself warned of persecutions against his message that would ultimately lead to the giving up of one’s life. How blessed we have been not to have lived in such times because of the protections granted to us in our nation and its founding philosophy. That is why we cannot be naïve or silent in the face of what now undermines our freedom to practice our faith in accord with our moral convictions.Catholics should consider offering days of penance during the Fortnight for Freedom on which they abstain from meat or take part in another form of penance. We should also study and reflect upon our religious freedom and the threats posed to it by reading the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statement, “Our First Most Cherished Liberty,” as well as the many other materials available through the special USCCB website, www.fortnight4freedom.org and on our own diocesan website, www.diocesepb.org. These are but some of the ways that we as individuals and as parish communities can participate in this Fortnight for Freedom, giving thanks for the gift of religious liberty and standing firm in opposition to threats against it.We can never underestimate the importance of making our voices heard in the many ways that are available to us by contacting our representatives and legislators to legitimately voice our position. This is especially critical in the matter of the HHS mandate. As we approach July 4 we are encouraged to celebrate the freedom on which our forefathers founded this country and for which many gave their lives. Our religious freedom is the first among our rights and we must be aware of the threats that are being posed to it today. No one is more the guardian of our rights and freedom than the Lord himself. He came into this world to set us free. Out of his infinite love for us, Christ came among us and took our human nature to himself to give it an even greater dignity.He became one of us so that we might realize the truth of our existence as free men and women made in the image and likeness of God. Christ restored our freedom in the fullest way. As we celebrate this Fortnight for Freedom, his words are clearly before us, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31)Our nation was founded on the basis that every person would be able to worship God freely and practice their faith without restraint from the government. May we continue to stand united in prayer for our nation and our religious liberty and may the truth keep us free. Reprinted with permission from the Florida Catholic, official newspaper for the diocese of Palm Beach, Florida.
The attitude of gratitude
Nov 18, 2010 / 00:00 amThanksgiving is a celebration that truly marks a fundamental attitude upon which our great nation has flourished. It is the attitude of gratitude. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in gratitude for the fruits of the earth, new friendships that were forged, as well as the freedom and opportunity that coming to these shores brought. Despite the hardships, sacrifices and losses, which the Pilgrims faced on their journey here, they were grateful to God for what they had. Since that time through its formal proclamation as a holiday in our nation by Abraham Lincoln, the celebration of Thanksgiving is truly a hallmark of our nation. It is also a hallmark of our nation’s recognition that all gifts, especially that of life, come from God.The attitude of gratitude is one that is part of God’s very nature. Gratitude is an expression of love. God is love and for all eternity gives himself away and literally sacrifices himself. It is that love which is his life as a community of persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In their eternal expression of love for each other, the persons of the Trinity also express gratitude to each other. That gratitude was so often reflected in the life of the Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, who always prayed to his Father in a stance of thanksgiving.At this time of Thanksgiving, it is well for us to reflect upon Christ’s giving thanks to his Father, which reflected both his human and divine attitude of gratitude. When he performed the miracle of multiplying bread for the crowd, we are told that he first gave thanks to his Father. Gratitude for food was an essential part of the Lord’s life. This is sublimely reflected in his giving thanks to his Father at the Last Supper and then changing bread and wine into his body and blood as the eternal covenant of his sacrifice for us. At this first Eucharist, Christ showed the fullness of the meaning of thanksgiving, which is precisely what the word Eucharist means. He also showed how intimately love and gratitude are associated as he sacrificed himself for us by giving himself completely to the Father on the cross. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it is the “Eucharist,” which reflects to us what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is all about. We give thanks to God for the food he gives us and especially for the bread of life he gives us in the Eucharist.It is important to realize that giving thanks and praise of God go hand in hand. This is very obvious in the narratives of the words of institution in the Eucharistic Prayers that are said at Mass. As the priest prepares to speak the words of consecration, he first narrates how Jesus “gave thanks and praise” when he took the bread and wine at the Last Supper. Praise and thanks are part of the same attitude. Interestingly, when Jesus prayed, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike” (Lk 10:21), some translations use the word “thanks” in place of the word “praise.”In this context, it is helpful for us to realize that although the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, does not use the word “thanks,” it is obviously a prayer of thanksgiving. To pray “hallowed be thy name” is to give praise to God, which is also to give him gratitude. When we ask God for our “daily bread,” Christ’s presupposition is that we are also thanking God for the bread already received. Again, Christ always presupposed thanksgiving in terms of sustenance. When we pray the Our Father, we should reflect on how each of the petitions leads us to an attitude of gratitude. That is why it is the prayer Christ gave to his disciples as the formula for all prayer. It is also why we pray it immediately after the Eucharistic Prayer in the Mass.There are times in the Gospels when Jesus also tells us how not to give thanks. The most obvious is that of the 10 lepers whom Jesus cures of their terrible affliction (cf. Lk 17:11-19). After the cured lepers are sent on their way, only one returns to give thanks, causing Jesus to question what happened to the other nine. Perhaps they were thankful in their hearts, but they would not make the sacrifice to go out of their way to express that gratefulness to Christ for the great gift he had given them. It is important to note that the one cured leper “returned, glorifying God in a loud voice” (Lk 17:15). Here again is the close association between praise and thanksgiving. Even if the nine other cured lepers were grateful, they did not give praise to God.Another example of our Lord telling us how not to give thanks is that of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who go to the temple to pray (cf. Lk 18:9-14). The Pharisee, with head unbowed, gives thanks to God but for all the wrong reasons. He thanks God that he is not like the rest of people, including the tax collector humbly standing in the back of the temple with head bowed. The Pharisee thanks God because he thinks he is so virtuous and unlike others. He makes clear to God the unfounded presumption that he is not a sinner. He gives thanks and praise to himself but not to God. The tax collector, however, prays simply, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Lk 18:13). Jesus tells us the tax collector went home justified while the Pharisee did not. In reality, the tax collector did give thanks to God because recognition of sinfulness is also a form of praise of God upon whom we completely depend.The celebration of Thanksgiving gives us reason to reflect upon the attitude of gratitude and to cultivate it more within our lives. It is a virtue of which St. Paul constantly speaks and asks us to cultivate as exemplified in his words, “Dedicate yourself to thankfulness. Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:14-17). We have much for which we should be thankful and we should give praise to God for it.May our thankfulness help us to realize more and more our dependency upon God whom we praise for the gift of life. May it also help us to engender a greater respect for this great gift which is given to us at the moment of our conception. True gratitude was present in our nation in its beginning. May we always recognize what true gratitude means and to whom it is properly addressed.A blessed Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things (the nation’s blessings/bounties). They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union ..."-Abraham LincolnExcerpt from “Proclamation of Thanksgiving”Oct. 3, 1863 (three months after the Battle of Gettysburg) Reprinted with permission from the Florida Catholic.