July 5, 2026, 12:00 PM
250 years.
Sometimes that seems like a long time. Much the way our significant birthdays or anniversaries—the ones ending in a zero or a five—seem hard to believe. We ask ourselves: Has it really been that long? Where have the years gone? Weren’t we just celebrating a Bicentennial?
Sometimes that seems like a long time. Much the way our significant birthdays or anniversaries—the ones ending in a zero or a five—seem hard to believe. We ask ourselves: Has it really been that long? Where have the years gone? Weren’t we just celebrating a Bicentennial?
But, let’s take another perspective. 250 years isn’t even 10% of Christian history, of Anno Domini. Other cultures, other governance structures (including the papacy) have already outlived us.
As Catholics, who have just consecrated our nation to the Sacred Heart, context makes a huge difference. Our nation, our history remains part of God’s world, of God’s plan. St Augustine wrote his great and long treatise The City of God to address human history in light of God’s eternal plan. I’m not recommending for reading at the beach, by the way! He leads us through complicated discussions of Biblical history, of ancient civilizations, of tales of pagan gods as well as Church history (still at his time, the youthful portion of the Church’s history). But, in the end, it’s the City of God that captures our hearts even while we live in this world.
Just after World War I, the poet and British Ambassador to the United States, Cecil Spring Rice, penned these words:
And there’s another country I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know.
We may not count her armies, We may not see her King.
Her fortress is a faithful heart, Her pride is suffering.
As we pray for our country—in gratitude for blessings, in petition for true justice and peace—let’s keep our eyes fixed on that other country, that City of God, where Christ reigns and where we hope to live forever.
Fr. McCreary
