The video below is a spoof on the Paul Revere story. It is said that Mr. Revere rode about at great personal risk warning as he rode, “The British are Coming!” Whatever historical debates occur about the veracity of the story as commonly told, one thing that is certain for us who have the Catholic Faith, is that it really did come to us at great personal risk including the shedding of substantial blood. Every time we recite the Creed in Church, sometimes too casually and thoughtlessly, remember that the martyrs died to give us that Creed. Our Holy Faith should never be taken lightly or treated as something of little significance.
In this video, Paul Revere is depicted as making a casual call, blithely noting that the British are coming. To him it seems more an interruption to things he’d rather be doing, such as playing Charades. And this, too, is a rather humorous picture of a sad fact about many believers, both clergy and lay, who have little intensity, and are content to do the minimum required, as if the faith is a sort of interruption to things they’d rather be doing. I pray this is not a picture of any of us!
As you enjoy this humorous video, remember the sacrifices that many made to bequeath the faith to you. Be willing to make the same sacrifices, if necessary, and to live the faith with intensity, making it the main focus of your life.
Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
And blest would be their children’s fate,
If they, like them should die for thee:
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
Yes, the rousing version; for rousing missions.
Sorry, meant “Missions”.
Unfortunately, the story of Paul Revere’s ride is almost totally a fabrication (see http://www.paul-revere-heritage.com/myths-and-facts.html ). Later on, his questionable behavior at Penobscot Bay is a matter of record. This is not the best example of heroic behavior unless we prefer fiction over the hard historical truth.
Yes, I note this in the article