God bless America!

It is blessing to be an American–it was part of God’s providential plan for me. I realized at Mass today that it is an even greater blessing because Christ sets our freedom free! We have the freedom of democracy in the USA but our true freedom comes from Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen. He liberated us from the tyranny of sin and satan. It is because of Him that i can enjoy the ‘lesser’ freedom. And all freedom is the ability to do what i ought to do. So it follows that the more we as a nation try to get away from God, and in some even cases spite Him, the more enslaved our freedom becomes—freedom with an identity crisis. (see “freedom to chose” = “freedom to kill unborn humans”)

Pope Benedict XVI said great things when he came here–on the White House lawn:

“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. The framers of this nation’s founding documents 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.

…religious beliefs were a constant inspiration and driving force, as for example in the struggle against slavery and in the civil rights movement.

Freedom is not only a gift, 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 (cf. Spe Salvi, 24).”

May God bless America!