This weekend we celebrate the 239th anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Sadly, in a recent poll, less than 50 percent of our
nations students could identify the phrase "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal" as a line from the
Declaration of Independence.
Though our freedom is inherited, it is also something
that we need to learn how to cherish, protect, and exercise in every age. Every citizen of this country has a duty to
learn how to use our freedom for good.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited our country back in 2009, his
first stop was at the White House to meet with the President. And President Bush did something quite noble:
he asked the Holy Father to give us a catechesis on the real meaning of
Freedom. “In a world where some see
freedom as simply the right to do as they wish, we need your message,” President
Bush said to the Pope, “that true liberty requires us to live our freedom not
just for ourselves, but in a spirit of mutual support.”
Pope Benedict didn’t let President Bush down. Over the course of his several day visit the
Pope made Freedom one of the central themes of all of his talks. He also called us to recognize all of those
counterfeit versions of freedom that are undermining the real thing. For true liberty gives our country life,
abuse of freedom threatens our country’s future.
This weekend as we give thanks to God for our gift of
freedom, it’s fitting to return to Pope Benedict’s message.
Pope Benedict began his catechesis reminding us that our
founding fathers, who risked their lives to sign the declaration of independence,
recognized the essential link between freedom and the truth of the moral order
created by God. “From the dawn of the
Republic,” the Pope stated, “America's quest for freedom has been guided by the
conviction that the principles governing political and social life are
intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator.
Because of a intellectually defunct notion of the separation
of the Church and State, our media often portrays many of our founding fathers
to be secular humanists who wanted nothing to do with religion. However, 26 of the 58 signers of the
declaration of independence had some sort of theological degree. John Adams spoke for many of the signers of
the declaration when he said that, “it is religion and morality alone which can
establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”
“The framers of this nation's founding documents,” the Pope
said, “drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the self-evident truth
that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in
the laws of nature and of nature's God.”
So the exercise of liberty must always be done in reference
to God’s moral law.
“Freedom is not only a gift,” the Pope emphasized, “but also
a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience --
almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who
sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The
preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline,
sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less
fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring
one's deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom
is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must
constantly be won over for the cause of good”
I think that’s one of the most important things the Pope
said when visiting our country. And
haven’t his words turned out to be extremely prophetic. Since his visit 6 years ago, his words have
been largely ignored, and we have seen morality diminish, and the notion of
freedom perverted, not just in last week’s Supreme Court decision to redefine the
ancient institution of marriage, but over and over again, freedom too has been
redefined as the license to do whatever you want to whoever you want without
any reference to the laws of nature’s God.
I heard an interesting quip recently: Many of us often
wonder what kind of planet we're leaving behind for our children. But few ask
the opposite: what kind of children are we leaving behind for our planet? When Moses had led the Israelites to the
precipice of the Promised Land, he urged them: “Drill into your children” the
importance of following the commands of God.
Otherwise, they will become pushovers to the evils of those who
currently inhabit that promised land.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for the Israelites to
forget Moses’ warning. Israel fell into
immorality, they began to worship pagan gods, and as a consequence they became
subjected to their enemies, and carried off into Captivity.
In our first reading, we heard how God sent Ezekiel to these
Israelites who had fallen into sin and false worship. God acknowledged how his own people had
rebelled against Him, how they had become “hard of face and obstinate of heart.”
By virtue of our Christian Baptism, all of us are sent, like
Ezekiel as prophets, into the lives of those who rebel against God’s laws, who
have hardened their hearts to God, to
bring the Word of God to those who have strayed, to preach the word of hope,
that in God we can find true freedom.
Yet, if we are to authentically preach the word of freedom to captives,
we have to show by our lives, that we, by God’s grace, are free. This is why, we Catholics, make frequent use
of the Sacrament of Confession, and begin every Mass acknowledging our sins, asking
God for mercy. For it is difficult to
free the captives, if we ourselves are captive to sin.
In the Gospel, Jesus is the prophet par excellance, bringing
freedom to captives. Yet, today we heard
this strange account how apart from curing a few sick people in his home town,
we heard how Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deeds there. Similarly, in our own day, there may be only
few, who are receptive to the Gospel.
But those conversions are of no little value. For oftentimes in the Church, 100 people with
burning faith can do so much more than a 1000 with lukewarm or mediocre
faith.
So what is our duty in this campaign for reclaiming authentic
freedom? As always, as Christians, are
duty is to become Saints. To become as
Holy as we should through obedience to Christ’s teaching and laws of God, and
to pass the faith on to the next generation.
I guarantee there is at least one person in each of our lives, a family
member, a coworker, a neighbor, a stranger that we have not yet met, who is
yearning to be set free, and the key, is for us to share the faith with them in
a patient, clear, and compelling way.
Think of someone during this Mass, lift them up, as the Eucharistic
elements are lifted up; pray for their conversion daily.
Pray too, that we may be authentic in spreading the message
of true freedom, that like Ezekiel, we may speak the Word of God even to the
rebellious and obstinate of heart, and like Our Blessed Lord, endure any
resistance or mockery, in order to seek out those who are yearning for his liberating
grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls
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