Catholics in America

An interesting homily by Archbishop Gomez (San Antonio) about being Catholic in America.  Here is a taste:

long before the United States of America was even an idea, this land was Catholic. Holy Mass was celebrated here, at that time in Latin; The Word of God, was preached in the Spanish language, and both then are part of our country’s mother tongue.

Every American today, in some way traces his or her roots to the great Hispanic-Catholic missions of the 16th and 17th centuries. We feel this deeply here in the Southwest. In other parts of our country, Americans proudly trace their roots more deeply to the early Catholic missions of immigrants from other foreign lands, France, Poland, Germany, Ireland and Italy.

But we are all of us Americans, and most of us are children of immigrants. And all of us are heirs to the legacy of the Gospel believed and preached here by our country’s first settlers.

I fear today that we’re in danger of trying to deliberately, erase our memory of this history. It’s almost as if we are that unfaithful servant in the Gospel—who out of fear buries the gifts that God has given him.

I feel that sometimes in the same way that some people would have us forget our country’s Hispanic heritage, there are powerful forces at work that want us to forget our Catholic and Christian roots, too. You know this in your work. The reason we’re always fighting over Church-state and religious freedom issues in our courts and legislatures is that there are strong pressures to suppress and privatize religion.

Thanks to Amy Welborn.