Independence Day [In the Dioceses of the United States]

  Lectionary: 362

I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.

On this 250th anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence, we do well to remember that neither the present administration in Washington, nor the US Constitution with its three branches of government, is the nation. The Constitution was written several years after the nation was founded, and major political parties appeared even later. 

Our allegiance is to "one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." That nation is a work in progress, as is our Constitution and our democracy; they are noble experiments. Parties appear and disappear; and fielty to them is something else altogether, neither necessary nor legally binding. 

Catholics in the United States -- which is not "the American Catholic Church" because there is no such thing -- have a long history of supporting the nation, its constitution, laws, principles, and parties. We see and endorse the Christian roots of democracy, and believe with our fellow Americans that "all men are created equal." (Men includes women and men, children, and human minorities over every race and nation. But not dogs, cats, or other animals.) American Catholics have not hesitated to participate actively and passively in governing the country, nor in defending its borders. 

Where European nations rebuild old cities in newer nations, we build new cities within a new nation, and inspire them with its principles of equal rights for everyone, including recent immigrants, the unborn, disabled, and elderly. 

The experiment does not proceed evenly or without setbacks and catastrophes. And we know it can fail. It must not; we must make it work. There is nothing automatic in nation building, nation maintaining, or human nature. The writers of the Constitution of the United States were well aware of sin and human failings. They did not expect every citizen to worship the same God, nor to attend the same church, but they did expect fidelity to the nation's laws. 

And they knew there are people given to evil who subvert the laws; some of them will twist the laws to serve their own wicked purposes. Some will be elected to high positions by an indifferent, illiterate, ignorant, or wicked electorate. To prevent the experiment's failure from destroying the nation, they created a system of "checks and balances;" and added a provision for rewriting the Constitution entirely. But they knew that could also fail. 

Although the American Constitution never refers directly to God and endorses no religion, the Founders' nation would comprise Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims; and did not intentionally disrespect the beliefs and customs of Indigenous Americans. The Founders supposed that any religion would support their experiment. They did not anticipate a nation of irreligious nones, nor did they expect any religious or spiritual beliefs to oppose a civilized society with its laws. 

The most famous philosopher among them, the deist Thomas Jefferson, said Christanity is a “benign religion … inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude and love of man, acknowledging and adoring an overruling providence." 

In his Second Inaugural Address he asked the nation, 

"to join with me in supplications, that he [that Being in whose hands we are] will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do, shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations.”

Roman Catholics were sent to this country to represent the Lord Jesus. By our Baptism and Eucharist we are the Body of Christ in the world. We owe our courageous presence, generosity, compassion, and fidelity to God, to ourselves, and to our nation. Betrayal of any one of these three is unjust. We have a very serious obligation to be Catholic and to teach our children our faith.  

We are grateful to God for this nation and its gift to the world.