More than 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as Christians, and in a time of war, it's easy to understand why we hear so much about God and prayer in the news media. War clears away the distractions of daily life. It focuses us on what we believe, the people we love and who we are as a nation.

What do we believe? America rests on the idea that each human being is fundamentally equal in the eyes of God, and each human life has infinite value. And whether we acknowledge it or not, why we believe these things is rooted in the events we celebrate this week.

For Christians, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year. These are the days that define us. They also set us apart. Anybody can enjoy the spirit of Christmas. Anybody can respect Jesus of Nazareth as an important religious thinker, or Christianity as a good system of ethics. But Holy Week is about the raw facts in our faith that make the world uneasy.

Here are the facts: God became man. He preached the good news of salvation. We listened to Him. We rejected Him. We murdered Him. And then He overcame death, rose from His grave and returned to give us the gift of new life. And He did all this because He loves us, despite our sins — each one of us.

There is nothing metaphorical about the cross or symbolic about the Resurrection. They happened. They're real. Jesus Christ is a teacher, but vastly more than a teacher — He is Lord, Redeemer and the Son of God. No one, anywhere, ever, is saved except through Him. No one, anywhere, ever, can come to the Father except through Him.

This is what Catholics believe and preach. That's what we celebrate this week and throughout the Easter season. And that's why American Christians, and Christians around the world, can claim that each life has infinite value: because God Himself so deeply loved us that He lived, died and rose again to ransom each of us.

May God grant each of us the gifts of gratitude and joy this Eastertide, and make us instruments of His peace!

* * *

We become instruments of Christ's peace when we carry His Gospel into our families, our professions, our personal choices and our public actions. Faith and public service are not separate planets. Our economic and political choices should always draw direction from our religious beliefs. If we believe something, we act on it. And what we don't act on, we don't really believe.

One of the toughest problems in American public life today is the rupture between personal conviction and public life. Too many elected officials and voters have forgotten that a nation's moral character depends on individuals who act according to their beliefs. "I'm personally opposed to (fill in the issue), but ... " is always an alibi for a lack of courage, and it's killing us as a country.

On Wednesday, April 23, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas — a committed Christian for many years and a recent convert to the Catholic faith — will be giving the first annual Robert Casey Lecture on Faith and Public Life at the John Paul II Center. This is an ideal time to gather and talk about rebuilding the linkage between faith and the American public square. If we take our Catholic faith seriously, this is an excellent way to spend an Eastertide evening. I'll be there, and I sincerely hope you'll join me.

Senator Brownback will speak April 23, 7:15 p.m., in the refectory at the John Paul II Center, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free and the public is invited. Seating is limited.