Happy 250th
Saturday Post
Good morning and happy Saturday.
Today, we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary. While not perfect, we have long been an example to the world for what it means to promote human rights and dignity through liberty.
Rather than rewrite something that has been better said elsewhere, I want to share with you the words of a man who knew personally every president from Andrew Johnson to Woodrow Wilson: Cardinal James Gibbons.
Cardinal Gibbons was the first apostolic vicar for North Carolina and later went on to become the Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore. For decades, the see at Baltimore was considered the most prestigious see in the United States given that it was our nation’s first diocese.
Writing in the North American Review in 1892, Cardinal Gibbons said this about our country:
Love of country shows itself in the citizen by the observance of law and the good use of political rights, and in those that, for the time being, govern, by justice and disinterestedness in their administration. Ministers of religion manifest their patriotism, not only as citizens, but also as spiritual teachers and leaders of the people, by inculcating the religious, moral, and civic virtues, and by prayer to the throne of God for the welfare of the land. “I desire, therefore,” wrote St. Paul to his disciple Timothy, “first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and chastity; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
The Catholic Church in our country is not unmindful of this duty. A prayer composed by Archbishop Carroll to beg Heaven’s blessing on the land and its rulers, a masterpiece of liturgical literature, is recited every Sunday at the solemn service in some parts of the United States, and notably in the Cathedral at Baltimore, in which the custom has never ceased since it was introduced by Baltimore’s first Archbishop over one hundred years ago.
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If the Apostles and the primitive Christians had so much reverence for the civil magistrates in whose election they certainly had no voice; and if they were so conscientious in observing the laws of the Roman Empire, which often inflicted on them odious pains and disabilities, how much more respect should the American citizen entertain for the civil rulers in whose election he actively participates! With what alacrity should he fulfil the laws which are framed solely for his peace and protection and for the welfare of the Commonwealth!
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The history of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire should be a salutary warning to us. Our Christian civilization gives us no immunity from political corruption and disaster. The oft-repeated cry of election frauds should not be treated with indifference, though, in many instances, no doubt, it is the empty charge of defeated partisans against successful rivals, or the heated language of a party press.
Love of country does not require unfettered deference to its decisions. Love of country is not unlike the love of neighbor that our Lord commands. As we seek to help the poor, suffering, and vulnerable in our nation, we are loving our nation; we are being patriotic.
I hope you’ll enjoy some time with your family and friends this weekend and, while you’re at it, say a prayer for our country and thank God for the blessings He has given us and ask for Him to send his Holy Spirit to guides in the areas we must improve.
As I have done for the last several Christmases and a recent Thanksgiving, I have put together a program that will air later today on WIZS in Henderson, NC. You can listen to it now, though.
The Great 4th of July Music Show
Featured in the program: Chuck Berry, the Pretenders, David Bowie, Steve Miller Band, the Oak Ridge Boys, Don McLean, and many more.
Listen on the radio today at noon on WIZS 100.1FM and 1450AM in Henderson, NC, and again on Monday at 2pm.
