By Judie Brown
In his column on the error among those who cackle about why Americans should not have celebrated Columbus Day, Peter Wolfgang opined:
Columbus did what no European did before him. Whatever Europeans may have been here prior to Columbus left no lasting legacy. You and I are part of a civilization in this hemisphere that begins with—and is in direct continuity with—the great explorer. Yes, he was motivated by ambition. He was also motivated by a deep Catholic piety.
The reason we, especially pro-life Americans, urgently need a reminder of this perspective is that when all else fails, faith remains. In the same way it inspires you and me today, faith inspired Columbus, even in his fallen state of being a mere human.
We engage in the work of defending vulnerable human beings at every stage of their lives because we know that each one of them is a gift from God. Saint Dominic Savio put it this way, “I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.”
Just like the naysayers who oppose celebrating Columbus Day, too many people today are in denial about what it means to be human. This is so because this simple truth preempts one’s goal of complete autonomy. The self has become primary, and everyone else becomes superfluous unless of course the ego is in a generous frame of mind. We call this selfishness, and I daresay it is the beginning of the thought process that leads to more than a few surgical abortions, to chemical abortion, to acts of euthanasia, and even to infanticide.
We know this is so because we find their favorite word—choice—slapped all over their propaganda. But a peek behind the word tells us all we need to know. You see, choice, in its normal form, is defined as selection or opting for something. But today the word is synonymous with taking lives. Perhaps the average person does not see this, but the wizards of spin know exactly what they are selling. And for those with eyes to see, the blood is everywhere.
This is precisely where Columbus Day comes into focus. The fledgling Christianity among the first explorers should remind us of the actual struggle we are fighting even now to focus attention on human dignity rather than human avarice. For when all is said and done, preborn people do ultimately accomplish great things, if only their parents permit their birth.
Just like the preborn, the elderly and the infirm are rays of sunshine in our lives, people we welcome and affirm with love and charity, never with death.
It is perhaps no accident that Columbus Day falls in the Month of the Rosary. The eminent holy Jesuit and spiritual leader Father John Hardon, SJ, once said, “The underlying motive of Columbus’ historic voyage was the conversion of those who did not know Christ as the living Son of God and son of Mary. . . . Throughout the log, Columbus makes it clear he and his men are sailing across the Atlantic to spread the good news of salvation and convert the natives to Christianity.”
It is well for us to remember this, especially in a time when truth continually seems to give way to sophistry. Columbus Day recalls the man who loved his faith and worked to spread it wherever he went. And as we know, today in our efforts to focus the attention of our community on truth, sometimes those who turn away should remind us that becoming discouraged is never an option. We press on because the joy we know in Christ should be shared especially among those woke folk who need to welcome rather than refuse His love and mercy.
