I think I'd be remiss if I did not recognize the celebration of our nation. After all, no matter what I sometimes think of the people my country contains, and the culture they perpetuate, I have to remember that God sent us all here for a reason.
To love and to praise God.
So on this day, let us remember the blessings the Lord has so graciously bestowed upon our country:
* great beauty, sweeping vistas, and beautiful cities
* people from all over the world, a veritable nationwide tower of babel, and in spite of it, and even because of these differences, most of us get along the vast majority of the time.
* the freedom (for now) to mostly practice our religion, except when it conflicts with the immoral opinions of the loud political left wing minority whose current influence is unchecked and more equal than that of those who worship the Lord;
* the freedom to state the above on this blog without fear of arrest;
* the ability to vote, to speak and be heard, and to use our religious beliefs as a foundation for who we were sent to become so that God's word may be declared from every podium, ever city, every plain, and every mountain, even if we don't specifically use His name, but rather, act and vote in ways that glorify Him.
Folks, in other countries, people would be killed for stating about their country what I have stated about ours. People in the Sudan are being raped, tortured, and killed just for being Catholic. In this good ole' US of A, Catholics were once persecuted (and we still are, but to a far lesser degree), but we are still holding on without fear of death.
In the Middle East, there is freedom of religion inasmuch as one is Muslim; and in China, the true Catholic Church is underground, celebrating their faith with the reality of martyrdome hanging over their heads each and every time they seek to worship in a community of the faithful.
My friends in Christ, we here in America, while we struggle to defend our rights to worship and proclaim the Truth, we at least have not been silenced, and while there are those who disagree and call us small-minded, they have no power but their own voices echoing in their own empty minds.
We live in a blessed place, and we need to remember that freedom isn't free; just as our forefathers of this great country fought and died that others may live in the liberty they tried to provide, so must we go on to preserve these rights which we hold so dear. Our country is still a refuge for others from other nations; let us pray that the Constitution, as it was originally intended, is upheld and not twisted by activist judges.
At times I feel like we are watching the slow death of liberty; yet, as the Lord has blessed us, we have no reason to believe that He will not bring us through this dark valley and back into the light He intended this nation to be.
Tonight, as we cheer, oooh, and ahh at the fireworks, let us let the concussion of small explosions remind us of why others have died; and let us carry on with their mission.
Let us continue to defend our right to free speech in proclaiming the Gospel; let us continue to defend our right to practice our religion without retribution by the left; let us continue to defend life at all stages so that we may raise a nation of children wiser than those who have sought to kill them in the womb.
Without them, we will cease to be a nation and this holidy will be for naught.
May the Lord bless our country on this day and lead us out of the darkness we have, as a nation, created for ourselves. May the lives of the unborn be protected, and may our leaders be lead by the Holy Spirit to make intelligent decisions.
May the Blessed Mother forever wrap us in her mantle and lead us to the Mercy of Jesus; and if we must suffer, let our suffering be offered on behalf of unconverted sinners.
May God Bless America, and may He bless each and every one of you and keep you safe on this national holiday.
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