What We Can Learn from the Good Old Days.
Growing up in my parish, I took my turn as altar server. The early seven o’clock mass seemed more like 3 AM. Nevertheless, the church was crowded with elderly Italian women who arrived early before Mass to recite the rosary. Filomena was one voice I remembered. She prayed fast and had the shrillest voice, but was probably aware of neither characteristic.
Along with the other immigrants, Filomena felt grateful and blessed by God to be in America. Her ostentatious praying and singing simply expressed her gratefulness for her life’s joys and blessings.
Filomena, like the others, wanted God to know how they cherished their newly found life in America: their different friends, a family, happiness with her faith, and everything else that needed their gracious thankfulness.
Filomena and her friends unabashedly and spontaneously echoed these thoughts every morning. Filomena and her friends prayed because they felt special. America is their priceless treasure and they had to tell him.
While watching a World War II documentary recently, I saw how Americans both in large and small towns sacrificed much at home to help the war effort overseas. The movie showed how they made their lives work with food rationing of everything from butter to milk. How they forfeited needed produce so the troops on the frontlines didn’t go hungry. Americans even raised vegetables in their backyard victory gardens so that the fighting soldiers were well fed.
Students helped by selling war bonds to build tanks and weapons. Joining “Rosie the Riveter,” women left their homes moving quickly into the workforce keeping the economy and the war machine going. All Americans voluntarily found ways to keep America sound and safe.
In those days, American opinion coalesced around one purpose: America’s victory. Participation was a duty and an honor to get through this ordeal and return America to normalcy. Nowadays this attitude seems so lost.
For whatever reasons, Americans today have pushed the common good behind individual needs and wants. The slogan: “We’re in this together” isn’t as predominant as: “what’s mine is mine, and I really don’t care about yours!”
We often seem to forget that Jesus came as a savior, because he wanted to serve rather than to be served. Telling us to do likewise! And he died making all peoples “US” and deleting the “US & THEM.” Do we understand now why we call those who lived and fought together in World War II, The Greatest Generation!Because they gave without counting the cost. Just as Jesus did earlier.
As we commemorate the twentieth Anniversary of 9/11, we may want to remember what really makes America great: it is everyone doing what’s right and good together. Now that spells greatness.