For the Glory of God

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on the biblical foundation upon which this nation was built. From the wooden cross planted at Cape Henry in 1607 to George Washington's first presidential address, the evidence is clear that this civilization was established for the glory of God. Like ancient Israel, however, America has drifted far from that foundation, exchanging the light of God for the idols of culture, politics, and moral relativism. The only true hope for this nation is not found in governments, courts, or financial markets. It is found in one name alone: Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we are called to repent, to stand firm, and to bend our knee before Him alone, come what may.

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My dear friends, 237 years ago, George Washington readied himself for the first ever presidential inauguration. That inauguration day would conclude with America's first government gathered in prayer to dedicate the nation's future to God. A century and a half earlier, another seminal event took place on the same day of April 29th, 1607, when the voyagers of the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed gathered together in prayer at Cape Henry to set a wooden cross on the sands of Virginia Beach to dedicate the new civilization to the will and purposes of God. America's biblical foundation would be affirmed and reaffirmed over and over again by its forefathers. From the pilgrims of the Mayflower to the Puritans of Massachusetts to John Carroll, America's first Catholic archbishop and early patriot, to the leaders of the first American colonies who declared publicly and in writing that the new Commonwealth had come into existence solely for the glory and the purposes of God. My friends, no historian can rewrite that, no president can expunge that, no Congress can debate that, and if 1,000 angels swore in 1,000 Bibles that this was not the case, it would in no way alter the fact that this American civilization was conceived, established, dedicated, and founded on a biblical cornerstone. In our Pledge of Allegiance, we say, one nation under God. Engraved on our currency are the words, in God we trust. The Supreme Court opens all of its sessions with these words God save the United States and this honorable court. America was brought into existence, my dear friends, for the purposes of our God. Over 200 years ago, George Washington held in his hands the first ever presidential address. In that address was a prophetic warning, and it was this, and I quote The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained. I'll read that once again. The propitious smiles of heaven can never be extended on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained. In other words, my friends, if America should ever turn away from God and his ways, if we should ever disregard his eternal rules of order and right, then his blessings, the smiles of heaven, would be removed from the land. It was an ancient warning. It had been given by the prophets in the Old Testament to the kingdom of Israel. For the people of Israel, my dear friends, the chosen people turned away from God and disregarded his eternal rules of order and right. They drove God out of their government, out of their public squares, out of their culture, out of the lives of their children. They worshiped idols and they served other gods. They celebrated immorality and they persecuted the righteous. They lifted up their children on the altars of foreign gods, and the blessings of God were removed from the land. As the we hear the Lord speaking in the prophet from uh in the words of the prophet Ezekiel, Son of Man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day. My dear friends, it is two and a half thousand years later, and in many ways, we as a nation have made the same mistake. We too have turned away from God. We have rebelled against him, we have driven him out of our government, out of our public square, out of our schoolhouses, our courtrooms, out of our culture, and out of the lies of our children. We too have profaned the sacred and we have sanctified the profane. And we have killed our most innocent, over 70 million of our unborn children. My friends, what we were warned never to do, we have done. Let us not pretend, my dear friends. We are doing at times what ancient Israel did on the altars of Baal. We are exchanging our God for idols, our light for darkness, and our glory for that which cannot save us. Are we ready to risk, my friends, that which comes on the other side of that exchange? The day when the blessings of heaven are removed from the land. As we celebrate, my dear friends, this 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we come before the altar of God to declare that there is only one God, and He is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He alone is the rock upon which this nation came into existence. And from this church, my dear friends, we make this declaration. We will not bow down to Satan and his dominions, we will not bow down to political correctness, we will not bow down to a morality that is as shifting as the sand and the wind. We will not bow down to the laws and precepts of rebellion or the sacred cows of moral relativism. We will not bow down to the idols of man. We will not bow down even when people spit on us or hate us because of our Catholic faith. We will not give in, my dear friends, to the ways of the world. But we will only bow our knee before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, come what may, and will place no other gods, no other idols in our life before Him. As St. Paul writes, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In the end, my brothers and sisters, some trust in gold, some trust in princes, some trust in supreme courts, some trust in white houses, some trust in governments, some trust in Wall Street, some trust in powers, and some trust in idols. But we trust in the name of Jesus, the name above all names, above all kings, above all powers. We trust in the only name given by which all men can be saved. We trust in the name of the Lord Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, the Judge of all judges, the light of the world, the glory of man, the foundation of nations, the cornerstone upon which this nation came into existence, and the only answer, the only chance, and the only hope that America has that it may always be, continue to shine with the light of the presence of the glory of God from sea to shining sea. But you see, my dear friends, the only hope for America is Jesus. The only hope for our country is Him. We must repent of our ways, and we must stand firm and say, We need God in America again. My dear friends, as we celebrate 250 years, may God bless each and every one of you, and may God bless these United States of America.