A Shepherd's Care: Reflections on Faith and Nation

Many American Christians consider the founding of our country as an important step in salvation history. They point to numerous parallels between the Biblical history of God's people and the establishment of the United States. The ancient Hebrews were delivered from slavery in Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea across the desert to the Promised Land. Some Europeans (i.e. the English) left a land of religious persecution and sailed across the ocean to a land of religious freedom. The founding documents of our country were based upon principles of Judeo-Christianity. By the 19th-century, the ideology of "Manifest Destiny" had developed which held that the United States was divinely ordained by God to expand its democratic institutions and civilization across the entire North American continent. (This ideology was used to justify westward expansion, and the displacement of Indigenous populations.)

There are, however, some noticeable differences between the Biblical history of God's people and the establishment of the United States. Israel was founded when its twelve tribes were united under a king (Saul and David). The United States was founded when its thirteen states were united in their rejection of the King of England. And the Biblical journey of the people of God culminates in the reign of a benevolent king who will bring an end to war. As the Prophet Zechariah says in this Sunday's first reading: "Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding... on a colt." The uniqueness of this king riding on "the foal of an ass" and not on a war horse would have sounded startling to the Jews of that ancient war-torn world. Zechariah prophesies that this king will banish the chariot, the horse and the warrior's bow. Why? Because "he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea... to the ends of the earth" (Zechariah 9: 9-10).

Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled this prophesy in many ways. One of those ways is explained in this Sunday's gospel reading. Jesus says: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves" (Matthew 11: 28-29). This was the same gospel passage for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 12) when the U.S. Bishops led our national Church in consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We recognize that Jesus is our only king, a king who is meek and humble of heart and wants to give us rest.

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A SHEPHERD's care continues

No political leaders are as ideal as King Jesus. So let us pray for them all, that they will become "meek and humble of heart," working together to bring rest to our weary world. Let us pray for them all to be instruments of peace "from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth." And let us pray for our blessed nation, that, consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we may grow in the virtues of his heart. May his kingdom of peace come in our world, not so much by the warrior's bow, but by the meek and humble ways we serve our neighbors in need.

Your Loving Shepherd,

Fr. Ernest Bayer