By year 200 A.D., the Christian faith had spread to most regions of the Roman Empire. However, those early Christians found that their faith was incompatible with the Roman Empire. Of the estimated seven million Christians, as many as two million were martyred for not compromising their faith.

Modern technology enables us to communicate with each other, search out information and enjoy various types of entertainment with an astonishing speed and convenience. Almost two-thirds of Americans use a smartphone. Sixty-eight percent of them place their smartphone next to their bed at night. And, nearly 30 percent check their mobile device every 30 minutes. We have become people who like to stay connected.

On Jan. 20, 1961, President Kennedy concluded his inaugural address, the first ever televised in color, with the stirring challenge: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Kennedy’s rally cry for duty to one’s country was not unique. At the 1916 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Warren Harding, later to be elected president, said, “We must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it and more anxious about what it can do for the nation.”