Friday we celebrated our nation’s birthday:
Almost 250 years of independence!
I’ve seen news items recently claiming many Americans,
including many younger Americans, don’t feel great patriotism.
I don’t know if that is true,
but I will take this moment to say a few things about patriotism.
Loving our country is good and right.
The Fourth Commandment calls us to honor our father and mother;
That extends to all in authority and all who give us life.
In the Roman way of thinking, patriotism was a form of “pietas”;
We get our word “piety” from that. In Roman thinking,
It was about the devotion and obligation we owe:
To family, to our country, and above all, God.
You and I enjoy such remarkable advantages,
that most people who ever existed,
and most people alive today, do not have.
Maybe you don’t like our elected officials.
You have the freedom to say that in public.
You get to protest and organize and vote them out.
No, our nation isn’t perfect.
As Catholics, we experienced prejudice in this country at times.
However, we’ve never enjoyed this level of freedom anywhere else.
Yes, our society is materialistic, and that’s bad.
But consider this. In 1900, 60% of the world’s population
was in extreme poverty. Today, that number is 10%.
That’s huge progress. And our nation played a big role.
A lot of complaints people have
come from misunderstanding our Constitution.
Someone says, why’d she get to say that? It’s called free speech.
Why didn’t they send that person to jail?
Because a jury found him not guilty. It’s called due process.
Our Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution they did
because they knew that without certain limits and protections,
people could get run over.
And one of the best things they did was to give us
the power to change our system of government.
Over the years, “we the people” have made a more perfect union.
That’s a lot to be grateful for.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah loves his country, too.
God’s People were in deep trouble, in every way.
Isaiah sees a better future, when God’s people
would be secure, as in the arms of their mother.
Yet not only Israel, but all nations would be secure in,
and draw life from, the City of God.
Isaiah was the voice of conscience in his time.
That responsibility falls to you and me,
especially given our freedoms and advantages!
We might notice what Jesus told the 70 disciples.
Stay focused, don’t get distracted along the way.
Don’t worry too much about what stuff you bring along;
make sure you bring a peaceful spirit.
If you find yourself getting worked up, stop and get prayed up.
One way to keep our focus is frequent trips to confession.
When we feel anger, or worry, or we get off track,
a good confession helps get our priorities back in order.
In the second reading, Saint Paul said,
“the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
He’s not saying, I don’t care. He’s not giving up, either.
He’s doing what Jesus did on the Cross:
Giving it all to the Father.
It was when our Lord was seemingly most powerless – on the Cross –
that he poured out his grace on the world most abundantly.
There is a lot of anger and ugliness in politics.
Our right answer isn’t to turn away, but to bring a peaceful spirit.
Speak out; vote, get involved.
But do so with the grace and power of Jesus Christ.
