A Fourth of July Reflection

Since I will be leaving for my week long vacation on Cape Cod on Friday, I am posting my reflection for July Fourth Weekend early.
I wish one and all a blessed and joyous Fourth of July and pray that we all can come together in the Love of Almighty God and Jesus Christ to find and celebrate the things that can bind us together and break down the walls that separate us from within the Mystical Body of Christ.
Equality, Justice, Truth, Happiness, Faith, Generosity
Foundations of Our Fore Fathers and the Teachings of Christ
On this Independence Day weekend I find it especially gratifying and fitting that the readings for this Sunday support and uphold the foundations that this country is founded on.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (Constitution of the United States)
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL PEOPLE are created equal, that they ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR with certain unalienable rights, that among them are LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” (Declaration of Independence)
The first reading for Sunday is from the book of Wisdom and it says, “Love Justice, you who judge the earth think of the Lord in Goodness and seek Him in integrity of heart” (Wisdom 1:1) “God does not rejoice in the destruction of the living for God furnished all things that they might have being…ALL the creatures of the world are wholesome” (Wisdom 1:14-15) “Through the envy of the devil death and evil entered the world” (Wisdom 2:24) “It is the wicked, the sons of Satan who with hands and words invited death and destruction considering it a friend” (Wisdom 1:16) We are also told in Wisdom 15 “Justice is undying”.
The truth is that JUSTICE is undying unless the devil has taken control of those humans who are commissioned to uphold it. JUSTICE is the root of all freedom, if there is no JUSTICE there is no true freedom. JUSTICE is undying when it is coupled with a sense of FAITH in a superior being, the creator Almighty God. This nations founding fathers had a deep-rooted sense of faith in God. In the Declaration of Independence, they refer to Him as THE CREATOR and THE SUPREME JUDGE OF THE WORLD. Today we have many people who are attempting to remove any mention of Almighty God from everything in this country; this was not the intent or purpose of our founding Fathers. They had a deep-seated FAITH and BELIEF in the Almighty. That small minority have prevented prayer in the schools, are trying to remove ONE NATION UNDER GOD from the pledge of allegiance, and would deny that our rule of laws were established with the commandments in mind. Sadly, some of these people purport to be religious leaders. Jews, Muslims, and all Christians worship the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Jesus. The readings from the Gospel teach us how FAITH is so powerful. Both the woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years and the official of the Jewish synagogue, Jairus, had FAITH and TRUST that Jesus could cure them, and He did. Having FAITH can as Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20 “If you had faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, you would be able to say to that mountain, move!, and it would move”
JUSTICE is undying when it is coupled with HONESTY, TRUST, FAITH and GENEROSITY or compassion and FREEDOM. Allowing ALL people to pursue HAPPINESS by having the same rights and benefits of all other individuals. In order to accomplish this we need to respect and embrace the diversity of God’s creation. Every child of God has been given special gifts and just as the various parts of our body look different and have differing functions they are all part of the same body. So it is with all God’s children, they might look different, may have differing celebrations and customs but they are all our sisters and brothers in Christ.
This past week we all were given a glowing example of how one individual, Warren Buffett, is living out the message in the second reading of Sunday. “The willingness to give should be in accord with ones means, not go beyond them...there should be certain EQUALITY. Your plenty now should supply their needs so that there surplus later might be able to supply your needs, with EQUALITY as a result” (2 Corinthians 8:12-14)
I urge each and every one who reads or hears this message to think about our freedom, think about how they are contributing to the ideals this country was founded on. Are you being GENEROUS, TRUSTING, HONEST, FAITHFUL? Are you working to insure that EVERY citizen is accorder the same rights and privileges as the others? Are you accepting the unique differences of races and beliefs that have melded together to form this more perfect union? As long as each and every person is respecting the RIGHTS of the other, and reaching out to all with the same LOVE that Jesus demonstrated to all He encountered, there is a chance that we might find ways to end the violence, prejudice, hatred, poverty and discrimination that have been injected into this world by Satan to keep us confused and unbalanced and casting doubt on the Love of Almighty God.
I leave on my annual week on Cape Cod with the prayer that Almighty God will send His bountiful blessings upon each and every one of you and that He will inspire the leaders of this nation and the world to find peaceful and compassionate ways to bring about a more perfect world and EQUALITY, JUSTICE, TRUTH, HONESTY, TRUST and HAPPINESS to all God’s children all over the Globe.
AMEN
Rev. Robert Francis Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints. Sergius and Bacchus
Holliston, Massachusetts
E-mail: Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com
http://www.blogger.com/We are a Catholic mission of the Franciscans of the Annunciation under the Old Catholic Diocese of New England. We believe that all God's children deserve respect and the same rights and privileges as every other person regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status.
We confer all Sacraments and Holy Unions.
God's love is everlasting and infinite and His mercy and compassion is unlimited.
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