Fortnight for Freedom

CLIFTON  Joining together to pray for life and liberty, the Knights of Columbus, Regina Mundi Council 3969 here, hosted a Mass and Holy Hour June 30 in St. Andrew the Apostle Church here in support of the U.S. Bishop’s Fortnight for Freedom campaign.

The campaign took place from June 21 — the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More — to July 4, Independence Day. It has been held for the past five years and dioceses around the country arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending religious liberty. This year’s theme was “Witnesses to Faith.”

Father Richard Kilcomons, pastor of St. Andrew’s, was main celebrant of the Mass and delivered the homily. A Holy Hour then followed with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction followed by a talk by Father Philip Michael Tangorra, assistant coordinator of evangelization at St. Paul’s Inside the Walls in Madison.

In his homily, Father Kilcomons spoke about the Fortnight to Freedom campaign and said, “During this 14-day period, Catholics and all people of faith are once again called upon to engage in the national campaign of prayer, education and activism for the preservation of religious liberty. This year’s theme focuses on the lives of women, men and children of faith from all over the world who have been defenders of their faith and courageous in extraordinary ways.”

Father Kilcomons noted religious liberty goes back to the Apostles. Ten of them were martyred for the faith. He also spoke about martyrs today including Christians in the Middle East who are facing persecution by militant groups such as ISIS.

“The best way we can defend our religious freedom is to practice our faith openly, for religious freedom is a gift from God — a freedom we must protect at all costs, just as the martyrs and the saints did for us,” said Father Kilcomons.

During the Holy Hour, Father Tangorra spoke about religious liberty in the context of freedom. “Religious liberty is not something merely for Christians, not merely an issue that Catholics deal with, it is a religious issue for all religions and indeed for all men,” he said.

“Freedom is not a ‘from’ and it is not an ‘of.’ John the Cross had it right. He defines freedom as a ‘for.’ In St. John the Cross’ understanding of freedom, he realizes that freedom is something already intrinsically had by all of us,” he said.

“We must use our freedom wisely and we must protect our freedom. We need to remind all our brothers and sisters in the one human family that no one grants you freedom. You are already free so use it for the greatest good,” said Father Tangorra.

At the close of Mass, Peter Kueken Jr. of Regina Mundi Council and church activities director for N.J. State Council, thanked many of his brother knights for attending the Mass. “The Knights are patriots, we are Catholic and we want to pray for religious freedom and religious rights. They are slowly being taking away from us. But many blessings came to us tonight and I’m sure all our intentions have been lifted up.”