Never Lose Your Spiritual Freedom – WSJ

Faith is deeply personal, but it isn t private. By its nature, faith is communal, writes Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Roman Catholic archbishop of New York. In a Journal op-ed Cardinal Dolan notes what can happen when people join together in faith:

The 20th-century historian Winthrop Hudson conjectured that the American Revolution really began in the 1740s, during the religious fervor called the Great Awakening, when tens of thousands gathered in belief and prayer, only to look about and find they weren t alone, that they were part of something ancient and beautiful. Similarly, scholars posit that the fall of Soviet hegemony and communist oppression began when two-thirds of Poland s people came together in June 1979 to welcome home Pope John Paul II and express faith in God together.

Such scholars make a fair point. From the moment the pope returned to his native land in that wonderful June of 1979, the godless Marxists who ruled Poland could not quite figure out how to handle him or the millions of joyful Poles who showed up to worship with him. By the end of the trip, he seemed to be literally killing communism with kindness.

via www.wsj.com

We could really use another JPII.