Independence, Division, and Unity

What a blessing to celebrate the birthday of the United States of America, especially at this time as we are celebrating renewed freedoms from the restrictions being lifted. The ability to safely get together with one another because of increased vaccinations and improving pandemic statistics allows us to celebrate not only independence but also unity – in our families, our communities, and our churches!

“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.” Sadly, there are other scourges in our nation that continue to afflict our population as a whole and for which we have no scientific treatment or vaccine. These afflictions also came to the forefront during the past year, and they rob our people of freedoms, tearing apart our unity as a nation (much like the revelation clergy sexual abuse ripped open a wound in our Church that is still in the process of being healed). These three wounds to our nation continue to fester and will not simply go away with time: personal and systemic racism, disregard for human life at all stages, and political extremism like what led to the riot at our nation’s Capital. There is no sanitizer that will rid us of hatred, no drug that will make us love an unborn baby or a disabled adult, and no inoculation that will prevent mob violence. To be honest, as we approach six months since the Capital riot (and the 20th anniversary of September 11th), I was struggling with the lack of resolution to these harsh realities. Several people found my homily after January 6 to be helpful, and I had to go back to hear that message again for myself (it’s still on our website if you want to hear it). The reflections during the Patriotic Rosary that our collaborative prayer group offered this week also gave me reassurance.

These two messages overlapped on one theme: there is only one Source that can cure these kinds of social illnesses, and that is the God of Love, whom we know as Jesus Christ. Hate cannot conquer hate – only Love can do that. Distress and trials do not have to be the last word, because Jesus has conquered our worst enemies: sin and death (not the people on the other side of town… or of the Red/Blue line). There is far more that unites us than divides us – God made us that way. We can hate the ideas and behaviors that divide us and put people in danger – without hating the person who holds those ideas, because they hurt and bleed just like we do.

As we celebrate our Nation this week, let us be united in our efforts to preserve the gift of “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Unity comes not just from similarities… Unity is ours because God chose to love us, in all of our diverse gifts and personalities, in spite of our shortcomings and faults. May we follow Jesus’ command and example: “Love one another as I have loved you,” and he gave his life for love of all of us. — Fr. Joe