It's good to remember

November has always been for me a time to remember. For some reason, this month more than any other, brings me to recall times of childhood, rushing home before the too early arrival of nightfall as well as times of loss like when my father died and the holiday season yielded little joy. This change of season unlike the others seems more profound, more serious if you will; maybe even more dramatic because of the increased awareness of the hours of dawn and dusk.

Over the past days two anniversaries have been prominent in the media, both worthy of recalling. The first is the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s delivery of the Gettysburg Address and the second is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. That both presidents died from an assassin’s bullet seems especially ironic for both men sought to lift up the highest ideals of the value and dignity of the human person.

Lincoln frames the Gettysburg Address around the fundamental principle of the young nation that “was dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He explains the battle was fought as a test as to whether or not a nation founded on such a principle could endure. A democracy fully established on this principle was doomed to failure; such was the opinion and hope of the ruling classes in Europe. At its very core, such a principle is profoundly radical. Such a principle is also distinctly reverenced by all people of faith.

In a particular way, the Christian holds that the dignity and worth of each person, always and everywhere, created by God and invited into friendship and
Grace by Jesus Christ, yields an unequivocal equality among every person. It follows, of course, that a gathering of persons of equality would happen in freedom—for everyone. Further that a system of government for such people would be, “by the people and for the people.”

One hundred years later a young Bostonian elected as a successor to Lincoln would seek to carry on the same principles. As it is our sad reality that the ideals of this great nation are yet to be fully realized, President John Kennedy strove to move the nation further to fulfilling Lincoln’s prophetic words:

“I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith.”  (9/14/60)

In these November days it is good to remember the vision of those who have gone before us. For me, it is an inspiration to recall the depth of the meaning of these two men and their words and actions. Being challenged once again to this principle of the equality and dignity of every child ever born on this planet, none of us can guarantee the rightful dignity and freedom of our brothers and sisters. We can, however, choose to make such a principle an ever present foundation in our minds and hearts. Surely such a stance is fulfilling the plan of our Creator God, this November and always.

Fr. James Ronan