SPEAKER_00: Today's America's two hundred and fiftiet anniversary, July fourth, Independence Day.
SPEAKER_00: Two hundred and fifty years.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Very few people ever have the privilege of celebrating two hundred and the fiftieth anniversary of their nation.
SPEAKER_00: Today on this Saturday, we pause to thank God for a remarkable gift.
SPEAKER_00: The gift of living in the United States of America.
SPEAKER_00: No country is perfect.
SPEAKER_00: Our history includes moments of tremendous heroism and moments of profound failure.
SPEAKER_00: There have been times when we have defended human dignity with extraordinary courage, but there's also been times when we have fallen painfully short of our own ideals.
SPEAKER_00: This is true of every nation.
SPEAKER_00: But gratitude does not require perfection.
SPEAKER_00: It requires honesty.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, we have been extraordinarily blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us woke up this morning without fear that soldiers would knock on our door.
SPEAKER_00: We came to mass freely.
SPEAKER_00: No one demanded to see our papers, no one threatened us for carrying a Bible.
SPEAKER_00: No one's arrested for professing the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But around the world millions of Christians cannot say that.
SPEAKER_00: We often take for granted freedoms that countless peoples only dream about religious liberty, freedom of speech, the right to worship, the opportunity to work, the ability to raise a family, the chance to bear a better life.
SPEAKER_00: These are blessings, and every blessing calls for gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: But gratitude also calls for responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is one of God's greatest gifts.
SPEAKER_00: From the very beginning, God created us free.
SPEAKER_00: He does not force us to love Him.
SPEAKER_00: He invites us.
SPEAKER_00: Real love is only possible where there is freedom.
SPEAKER_00: That's why freedom is sacred.
SPEAKER_00: Because the church has always taught something that our culture often forgets.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is not the ability to do whatever I want.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is the ability to choose what is good.
SPEAKER_00: Saint John Paul II said that freedom is ordered towards truth.
SPEAKER_00: And without truth, freedom eventually destroys itself.
SPEAKER_00: A society where everyone simply does whatever they please is not truly free.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes chaotic.
SPEAKER_00: The great American founders understood this.
SPEAKER_00: John Adams famously wrote that our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
SPEAKER_00: Without virtue, he believed, it would become inadequate.
SPEAKER_00: Catholic faith says the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Laws are important, courts are important, elections are important, but no nation can survive if its peoples lose virtue.
SPEAKER_00: Because every nation is ultimately built upon one family at a time, one marriage at a time, one honest business owner at a time, one faithful priest at a time, one generous neighbor at a time, one saint at a time.
SPEAKER_00: The future of America will not be decided only in Washington.
SPEAKER_00: It will be decided in our homes and our around the dinner table, in our churches and our schools, in the choices we make every single day.
SPEAKER_00: That is why patriotism is more than just waving a flag.
SPEAKER_00: Patriotism is loving our country enough to pray for it, to serve it, to vote responsibly, to care for the poor, to defend the unborn, to welcome the stranger with wisdom and charity, to strengthen marriages, to teach our children to know Christ, to be honest when no one is watching.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we need to strive for holiness.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because saints make the best citizens.
SPEAKER_00: And there's another reason today fills me with gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us come from families who sacrificed everything to come to this country.
SPEAKER_00: Some arrived with almost nothing except hope.
SPEAKER_00: They believed America offered something precious, the opportunity to live in freedom, to worship freely, to work hard, to build a future for their children.
SPEAKER_00: Their sacrifices should never be forgotten.
SPEAKER_00: We honor them best, not merely by celebrating today, but by living lives worthy of the sacrifices they made.
SPEAKER_00: As Catholics, our patriotism is always properly ordered.
SPEAKER_00: We love our country deeply.
SPEAKER_00: We love the men and women who have served this country and have protected us.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for this country sincerely, we work for her good faithfully, but we also remember that no earthly nation is our final home.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Every flag ultimately points beyond itself.
SPEAKER_00: Every nation is temporary.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is eternal.
SPEAKER_00: That truth actually makes us better Americans, not worse ones, because when our first loyalty belongs to Christ, we become citizens who seek justice, defend human dignity, protect religious liberty, and work for the common good without hatred or division.
SPEAKER_00: So my brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this historic anniversary, let us thank Almighty God for the blessings He has poured upon our nation over these past 250 years.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray for all of our elected officials, our judges, our members of our armed forces, our first responders, and all those who serve the common good.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray for unity in a time of division, for wisdom in a time of confusion, and for renewed faith in a culture that so often forgets God.
SPEAKER_00: And let us ask the Lord for one more final grace, that when future generations celebrate America's three hundredth anniversary, they may be able to say that in our time Christians did not simply enjoy freedom.
SPEAKER_00: They used their freedom to become saints, because in the end that is the greatest gift we can ever give our country.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you, and may God continue to bless these United States of America.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.