July 6, 2026

 

250 Years - Wow

As we celebrated July 4 and our Independence - is it okay to be patriotic? Even with the good and the bad.

 

-Jesus reminds us the Kingdom belongs to the little ones and those who become like them / For they will receive wisdom and understanding.

 

-Children remind us Patriotism can be found under the 4th Commandment.

To honor thy parents.

 

Children are called to obey their parents / Families to nourish their children.

 

-Jesus honored and was obedient to Mary and Joseph / We are called to be obedient and honor our parents and families.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church [Article Four (CC: 2199)]: Love of native land can be derived from: “The Fourth Commandment” / Which is addressed expressly to children in their relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most universal. It likewise concerns the ties of kinship between members of the extended family. It requires honor, affection, and gratitude toward elders and ancestors. Finally, it extends to the duties of students to teachers, employees to employers, subordinates to leaders, citizens to their country, and to those who administer or govern it.

 

Thus; the Catechism shows that the 4th Commandment naturally leads to giving due honor to one’s family and county / to our native land.

 

-St. John Paul II said 'Patriotism is a love for... our native land: its history, traditions, language, its natural features."

 

We are family: A nation, before all else, is a family of families / a vibrant patchwork of family trees, blood ties, and personal relationships. Since the nation is an extension of the family, our filial duties therefore extend beyond to the nation as a whole. Just as we must love our parents, we must love the nation of our birth and be willing to fight for it. Nations, like families, have members who perform great acts of virtue that bring honor to the nation as well as members who commit horrible crimes that bring disgrace. But no matter how many national or individual sins we commit, our duty of patriotism is never suspended.

 

In closing:

-Two hundred fifty years ago, ordinary Americans did something extraordinary. They chose courage over comfort. Sacrifice over safety. And they risked everything for liberty.

 

-We are not celebrating politics / We are celebrating a people who came together on a common idea based on Judeo-Christian heritage that was passed on / And formed a Nation.

 

-The great British Catholic G.K. Chesterton wrote that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.”

 

Think about that for a moment. Other nations were founded on the basis of a common race, the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands—and the peasants who inhabited those lands.

 

But America was—and is to this day—different. It is founded on a shared belief. Or as Chesterton said, on a creed.

 

And what is this creed that sets us apart? It is the eloquent, profound, and simple statement penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:

 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

 

That single sentence in the Declaration of Independence changed history.

-And our Faith shows us our rights come from Almighty God.

 

Our founders have sometimes struggled to live that truth. But so have we. America, although, has always possessed something rare—the capacity to call itself back to its highest Christian ideals / To protect religious freedom, liberty, to protect the dignity of the human person in the image of God.

 

So as faithful Catholics it is ok to give obedience and honor to God and country, especially when our laws are not contrary to God’s Eternal Law - the Law placed in our hearts, that can be known through nature using our-God given-reason (Natural Law) / A law Rooted in the understanding that we are created in the image of God - thus our rights come from God / And when we see unjust laws, we seek to change them to honor God’s Law, and to seek authentic justice for All rooted in the Dignity of man created to know, love, and serve God.

 

May we continue to pray and to ask our Lord to heal our past sins, and pray that our great nation continually seeks to conform our laws to the Natural and Eternal Law of God, the creator and author of truly just laws.

 

Sister Faustina, who gave us the Divine Mercy Message, received this from Jesus. This can be found in her diary.

 

Prayer for Our Native Country - Poland

 

Meditation:

Once, after an adoration for our country, a pain pierced my soul, and I began to pray in this way: “Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your Saints, and especially the intercession of Your dearest Mother who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.” At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus, His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me, You see, My daughter, what great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the world (Diary, 286).

 

My Prayer Response:

Lord Jesus, give us a great concern for our native country.

 

May we continue to pray for our Nation this July 4th. In fact the Patroness of the United States is Mary under the Title of The Immaculate Conception…PRAY FOR US / Amen.

 

Vivat Jesus

Father Vic Gournas

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