The Fourth of July is usually a day of parades, fireworks, family gatherings and backyard barbecues. This year, because of the coronavirus, our Fourth of July celebrations will be different. Perhaps this will help us to remember that what we really celebrate is our freedom as citizens of the United States of America. Freedom for all people. An independence which was won and is maintained by the sacrifice of many lives.
But the freedom and the independence we celebrate today as a nation is not absolute. Our independence is rooted in our dependence on God. The Founding Fathers of our country knew this. They were believers. Our nation was founded on belief in God.
The president takes the oath of office by placing his hand on the Bible and ends with the new president saying, “So help me God.” In our Pledge of Allegiance, we say, “One nation under God.” Engraved on the money in your pocket are the words: “In God we trust.”
We cannot pray in our public schools, but our Congress has a chaplain paid by the government, and the chaplain begins each session with a prayer. Our country also provides chaplains of all faiths for the military and the government pays for chaplains to be on staff in our prisons.
Our Founding Fathers wisely placed in our Constitution a separation of church and state, which simply means that we do not have an “official” state religion. What the Constitution guarantees is not freedom from religion but freedom of religion. We have the freedom to practice the religious beliefs of our choice. We know that people of many faiths have come together to make this the great country that it is. Soldiers of all faiths stand shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, there are forces in the country who want to take God completely out of the public sector. Who do not want a person to say “God Bless you” or “Merry Christmas” or to publicly acknowledge the Ten Commandments.
We are created in the image of God and one day we will return to our true homeland of heaven. On this Fourth of July weekend let’s pray for our beloved country. We pray for men and women of all beliefs. We pray for men and women of no belief. We pray for those who protect us here at home and in countries far from home. We pray to be a country of peace and justice and mercy, from the helpless child in the womb to the elderly in nursing homes. We pray for an end to racism and bigotry. We pray to be a nation that welcomes the immigrant and the refugee and that does not forget the poor.
This has been a challenging year for our country. In the midst of the violence and discord that surrounds us I pray that our country can recall the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. In 1968, another year of civil unrest and with riots in American cities, they called for hope and healing, for peace and justice. That is our prayer also: To be “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” God Bless America.
Father Vincent G. Guest is pastor, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Shrine, Lindenwold.
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