Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. Happy Maryland Day! Today in history, in 1634, 388 years ago, Maryland’s first European settlers arrived on what is now called St. Clements Island in nearby St. Mary’s County. English Roman Catholics fleeing persecution and English Protestants wanting to forge a new life in the New World came aboard two ships: the Ark and the Dove. According to historical accounts, these new arrivals to the island erected a cross, offered prayers, and took “possession of this country for our Savior and for our sovereign Lord, the King of England.” Those first prayers represent the first Roman Catholic mass in the 13 colonies. Governor Calvert negotiated the purchase of the land that became St. Mary’s City from the Piscataway Indians; St. Mary’s City became Maryland’s first capitol. King Charles I of England authorized these settlers, so they named the colony after his wife, Henrietta Maria; initially called “Mary’s Land,” the colony was eventually known as Maryland. George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, himself a Roman Catholic, had determined that the colony of Maryland would be a Christian colony espousing religious toleration while recognizing the Indians as a separate people with inherent rights—revolutionary thinking for that time. While I am not a Roman Catholic, I do appreciate the settlers’ emphasis on honoring God first once they landed. Putting God first is something we are to do every moment of every day. Jesus put it like this in Mark 12:30, “ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength this is the first commandment.” God demands and deserves to be first. Who or what is more important than He?
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