Mr. John F. McManus

By John F. McManus

[Mr. McManus has an amazing background in the Marines, engineering, and public relations. He has been the president of the John Birch Society since 1991 -- as well as a friend of the Center and Third Order member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary since the 1970's. ]

Thank you, Sister, for the invitation.  Thank you, Brother Francis, Brother Andre Marie and all of you for keeping this place going, this oasis in the vast desert that surrounds us.

(Here he told a joke about the burglars who were interrupted in their thievery by a parrot.)

Burglars are stealing our country. Some are trying to steal our Church. We must not let either happen.

I’m delighted be here at this graduation. Right here we have a rather amazing young man in Michael Bryan. He has led his class in everything. Of all the graduates assembled here today, he is tops in science, in math, in literature, and in religious studies. There is no prize for the class of 2009 that he hasn’t won. Good for you, Michael!

What can I say to someone who is graduating from High School? Especially what can I say to a young person who is entering adulthood at a time when our nation is in deep trouble and in being controlled by men and women who, I believe, intend to make things worse? What to say to this young man who knows that the Church he loves is beset with enemies – even enemies from within?

What needs to be said is that God exists, and He wants everyone of us to save his soul and to be happy with Him forever in heaven. And to help us attain that end, God infused our souls at Baptism with the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.

Much is said about Faith. In the Act of Faith, we express our belief in God, in the Trinity, in the saving act of Christ’s life and death, and in all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches. In other words, if the Church speaks authoritatively, that’s it. And this is well understood. This is our Faith.

Regarding the virtue of Charity, we express our love of God and our neighbor, forgive those who have injured us, and ask pardon of anyone we have injured. This, too, is well understood.

But what about the third of the three virtues we receive at Baptism? What about Hope? It is almost the forgotten virtue. But it should never be forgotten. The prayer known as the Act of Hope points the “hope” we should all have that through God’s mercy, promises, and graces, we can get to heaven.

I have always found it somewhat surprising that in the beginning prayers at Mass (Psalm 42), the prayers said at the foot of the altar, it is the altar server who tells the priest “Spera in Deo,” which of course means “Hope in God.” I guess the church knew that every priest needed to be reminded even by the boy serving his Mass that he should never cease hoping

St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Romans (8:24), “For we are saved by hope.” He immediately adds, “But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for?” In other words, if you have already seen and gained that which you hoped to gain, there is no more need for hope. This, of course, is a false view of hope. We can only hope for what we don’t yet have.

Consider this truth when you are accosted by someone who proudly but incorrectly claims that he has already been saved. He sees no reason for hope; he ignores what St. Paul has told us. He needs your help to know the Catholic attitude about hope, the true attitude.

I have frequently been accosted by someone claiming proudly to be a Christian. I am asked if I have been saved. My answer has always been, “I don’t know yet.” The questioner is usually somewhat stunned but then immediately concludes that I’m a Catholic. If he or she is willing to listen, I will say, “And you really don’t know whether or not you’ve been saved – yet.” Someone who believes that he has already been saved essentially denies free will and has no need of hope. But we all know that while we can be in the state of grace, we still have the capability of “blowing it,” of sinning and losing the state of grace. Let us all hope that we never do so.

It is perfectly proper – and well advised – to confidently expect that, with God’s help, we can reach heaven.  In fact, the object of hope is precisely that – achieving heaven. And it is also true that hope is necessary to achieve salvation. For without this theological virtue, we end up presuming on God.  I believe that to be sinful and dangerous.

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is the story of the wedding feast at Cana. It was Christ’s first public miracle. I’m sure everyone here knows what happened. But the lesson that I find in the recounting if this miracle isn’t usually stressed. Recall that the Blessed Mother went to Jesus and told Him that the host at the wedding celebration had run out of wine. She immediately told the attendants to do whatever Christ asked of them.

He pointed to several large urns and He told the men to fill them with water. They did so immediately. Then, he changed the water to wine. Also, he told the men to bring a sample to their superior.

What’s the lesson? It seems to me that Christ could have immediately filled the urns with wine. But he wanted the men to do everything they could do up to the point they could do no more. Then, he changed the water to wine.

This is what God wants of us – to do all we can up to the point we can’t do more – and then ask His help.

We must not presume on God. Presumption is a direct opposite of hope. And hope requires that we first believe that graces flood the earth, accept the graces, and then act as we should in any circumstance by doing our part to do good, avoid evil, and save our soul.

What about hoping for a secondary good, something other than attainment of heaven? Can we properly hope for things in the temporal order? The answer, according to the theologians, is yes indeed. But only if the things we hope for are means to reach the supreme end of human life – salvation. We can hope for a decent job, hope for peace in the world, hope for safety when in a dangerous situation, etc. We can even hope that the graduation speaker will soon finish his time at the podium!

If we hope for a decent job that will enable us to raise a family, we must take the steps to be prepared to be hired, or to start our own business. We can’t logically or legitimately presume on an employer, or on the public. We certainly should never presume of God.

It is true that Faith without works is dead. It is also true that hope with preparation is absurd.

Like faith and charity, hope is necessary for salvation. An infant receives the virtue (the technical term is that the virtue is infused) at Baptism. But hope can be lost through despair and, as already mentioned, through presumption. We who have the good fortune to have accepted the Catholic faith don’t give up; and we don’t presume. We don’t lose hope.

Can you imagine anyone saying, “Dear Lord, the world is a mess, even getting worse almost daily?  I beg of you, change things.” How absurd! How sinful!

Maybe you’ve heard about the man who prayed daily that he might win the lottery. Day after day, he stormed heaven, “Lord help me win the lottery. I’ll do good deeds with the money if you’ll help me win.” Finally one day, there was a clap of thunder and a voice from heaven said, “First, you have to buy a ticket.”

We hope that the crime of abortion will be terminated. But do we do everything possible to bring this about? Do we elect to right officials who will choose the right justices? Do we inform our congressmen that they have the power to remove the matter from the jurisdiction of the courts? Or do we leave the matter to God alone?

We hope that the Pope will direct the bishops of the world to join with him on a selected day to jointly consecrate Russia to the immaculate heart of Mary. But do we pray our rosaries for this intention? Do we write to the Pope and to the bishops about this request of Our Lady? Or do we leave the matter to God alone?

We hope that our nation will pull out of the current economic slowdown so that jobs will be available and our nation can remain independent. But do we do what can be done by us to get our leaders to reverse course and cease spending our nation into destruction? Or do we again rely on God alone?

Faith can be lost. Charity can be lost. So, too, can hope be lost. Don’t let it happen.   Always remember that the final object of hope is seeing God for all eternity. He will continue to send the graces we need so that, some day, we might meet Him face-to-face, a happy event that we can indeed hope to achieve.

So I say to you, Michael Bryan, congratulations and God speed. Maybe you will take with you a favorite phrase I use.  In Latin, it is: “Dum spiro, spero.” It means simply, “While I breathe, I hope.” Don’t ever give up hope.

Let me close with the very short Act of Hope that I suspect many here know very well. Anyone who wishes to do so, please join with me.

“O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to attain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.  Amen.”

Thank you for the honor of having me here. I wish I could come more often.

May God be with you, Michael. Congratulations and God speed in all your endeavors.  Let us hope that we will meet soon again, and then some day in heaven.