In a recent poll, less than 50 percent of 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. Many even thought it was a line from the Communist Manifesto. Such is the state of education these days.
And so, it is likely that very few today know that God is mentioned four times in the Declaration. When I was preparing for today’s Mass, I re-read the Declaration of Independence. Despite the Declaration’s name and purpose, a proclamation of independence, the document begins with an acknowledgment of profound dependence: dependence above all on God as the basis of all human rights as well as duties.
The Founders vigorously affirm throughout their writings that the foundation of all reality is the existence of God who is the designer of all things in nature and the promulgator of all the laws which govern nature. The whole foundation of a just society is to be structure on the basis of God’s revealed law.
The Declaration is honest that declaring independence from Britain was not being done out of haste or greed. The declaration admits that “Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.” The King of Britain had betrayed his sacred duty to govern rightly and justly. Jefferson writes, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”
Government must be godly. And the British Rule over the colonies had become quite ungodly, murderous, unjust and tyrannical--an affront to the Creator who had endowed man with rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is also clear in the writings of the Founding Fathers that this new government would only work and survive if its people were a godly people—a religious people, a moral and virtuous people, and a people who valued knowledge.
Where God is driven out of the lives of a people, where religion is neglected, where morality is ignored, where the pursuit of knowledge is abandoned, suffering and tyranny will soon follow.
Reading through the Declaration now in 2023, it is hard not to be concerned with the state of these United States.
But there is hope. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” And it is the task of the Christian Church to help rekindle faith where faith in God has dwindled. And the Church, is very much alive—She is being refreshed and renewed at this hour—and she is animated by God’s Spirit who renews the face of the earth.
We pray for our nation today, that through the witness and labors of the Church, the people of this land will come to rediscover the Goodness and Necessity of God who is the source of the freedom for which we long. May God bless America, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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Please stand for our petitions. Our petitions this morning are those composed for the inauguration of President George Washington by Archbishop John Carroll, First Roman Catholic bishop in our country whose brother Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
We pray Thee, O almighty and eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations ...
We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.
We pray for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they maybe enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world can not give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
And we pray especially for all of our countrymen who have gone before us in faith, for all those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, for all the of the deceased members of our family and friends, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.
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