The celebration of our country’s 250th Anniversary has been recognized in many ways during these days and will continue to be recognized in the coming ones. An awareness of God’s blessings upon us cannot be exaggerated and must be acknowledged with gratitude and resolution.

In this year at St. John’s University, I have used this 250th anniversary theme to organize several programs. One has emphasized the long-term Catholic Contribution to the service of the poor in New York through the many organizations that sport a Catholic Foundation— Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Covenant House, Bread and Life, Hour Children, the Midnight Run, and many, many others. One could make a wonderful list of all the care and compassion that have been exercised through parishes and schools. Part of the genuine contribution to the growth and direction of our country has certainly been the way in which the Catholic community has responded to the call of the Gospel in practical and life-giving ways.

This realization fills me with hope. A wonderful line in the first letter of Peter expresses a challenge that we must hear:

“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Pet 3:15-16)

Yes. Ready to give a reason for our hope. After 250 years as an enormously blessed country, we should be able to express the reasons why we can be a positive and dedicated people. As the Lord has been with us, we can only pray in joy-filled hope that he will continue to be so.

When we have recognized Jesus as Lord in our life, all else fits together and we become a people of hope. Alongside that truth, offering a reason for our hope flows more easily. It receives expression in our willingness to be people who encourage others, who can wonder at the marvels that our God continues to do, and who support the uplifting of human life. Our joy and the energy with which we take on our ministries represent unfailing signs of our sense of God at work and our efforts to cooperate with divine providence in the changing of this world. Our hope rests in the heart that claims Jesus as Lord without compromise and forever. In this Spirit, we strengthen one another and all our brothers and sisters whom we serve.

In one of his audiences (December 11, 2024), Pope Francis insists that hope is not “a passive virtue, which merely waits for things to happen… [rather] it is a supremely active virtue that helps make them happen.”

After 250 years, we have the right to be a people of hope. We should be able to express the reasons for our hope and for our expectations into the future. We can hear this encouragement offered by St. Louise:

“We continue to hope that His [God’s] grace will enable us to make better use of the present [year]. He will not fail us, my dear sisters; let us be careful not to fail Him by not corresponding fully to His holy will.” (LdM, Spiritual Writings, L. 391. p. 440)

Amen.