Faith of our Fathers

In front of the 2nd St. Columbkille church in Papillion.

"Faith of our fathers, living still,

In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;

O how our hearts beat high with joy

Whenever we hear that glorious Word!

Refrain:

“Faith of our fathers, holy faith!

We will be true to thee till death."

Our faith has been handed down to us from ancient times, through numerous generations. It is amazing to think about how this precious gift was preserved, protected and lovingly given to us. In my case, a long line of Polish and Irish ancestors persevered and sacrificed for this gift of faith.

In their honor, I present a couple of traditional blessings that may have passed through their lips.

A Polish Blessing

May your hand be outstretched to all you meet.

And may all men say 'Brother' when they speak of you.

May the land be fertile beneath your feet.

May your days be gentle as the sun-kissed dew.

St. Patrick's Blessing:

May the strength of God pilot us;

May the wisdom of God instruct us,

May the hand of God protect us,

May the word of God direct us.

Be always ours this day and for evermore.

The faith was lived and remains alive in us. Now it's our turn to fan the flames in our hearts and keep the one, true faith burning for another generation. May this be part of our Lord's blessing for us.

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Faith of our Fathers

On this date in 1776 our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence saying:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

In other words, that when the government does not allow the rights given to us by our creator, people have a right to alter that government. When the Constitution of the United States of America was adopted, the first amendment guaranteed religious liberty.

Those were the decisions of our Founding Fathers. Today it is our time to choose. We can either validate or invalidate their decisions with what we decide in our day. How important is religious liberty to us today?

Religious Liberty (From the US Bishops' site)

Is Following Our Conscience Important?

Wow, This Must Matter

The Ham Sandwich Parable