Volunteers in front of this years
World Youth Day fireworks fundraiser booth.
World Youth Day fireworks fundraiser booth.
Happy July 4th! It was certainly one of my favorite holidays growing up. Thanks to all who purchased your fireworks at our Knights of Columbus/World Youth Day booth in the Orchard Supply Parking Lot. Our young people have been working over the last two years to raise the funds for this pilgrimage, and as of this weekend, with the fireworks booth, we have reached our goal. Again, many thanks for your support!
Our nation declared her independence 235 years ago tomorrow. What is the best thing you could do on this Independence Day, besides lighting off those sparklers and smokebombs? I propose that you read the Declaration of Independence again. We will be passing out copies of the Declaration and the U.S. Constitution after Mass, because Church and State were never meant to be separated, but rather to be distinct. Please read the First Amendment to our Constitution, and you will see the proper relationship between Church and State for our nation. It is not one of exclusion, but one of mutual cooperation. The Church needs the State, and the State needs the Church. Both have distinct spheres of competence, but both need to contribute to a well-ordered and balanced society. To try to form a government without acknowledging a Supreme Being is lunacy, for it certainly leads to chaos. Civil law cannot sustain civil order without a basis in natural and divine law. The very first sentence of our Declaration refers to “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,” and the second and most famous sentence affirms that our endowments are from “the Creator,” not from ourselves: “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….” Let us give thanks that we live in a nation founded on godly principles! And let us study so as to understand the genius of our own Constitution, and work to preserve it from corruption.
I want to say just a word about Fr. John Corapi, who left the priesthood two weeks ago. Many faithful Catholics have followed his spirited preaching over the years. We cannot help but be discouraged when a gifted and apparently faithful priest abandons his vows. But in the end, sadly, Fr. Corapi valued his media career more than the priesthood. It was a grave error. The vows a priest makes to Christ are of infinitely more value than any “work” he can do. Jesus teaches us that the “work” we must do is to “believe in the One God sent.” Let us pray that all who make vows persevere in fidelity to those vows.
Our nation declared her independence 235 years ago tomorrow. What is the best thing you could do on this Independence Day, besides lighting off those sparklers and smokebombs? I propose that you read the Declaration of Independence again. We will be passing out copies of the Declaration and the U.S. Constitution after Mass, because Church and State were never meant to be separated, but rather to be distinct. Please read the First Amendment to our Constitution, and you will see the proper relationship between Church and State for our nation. It is not one of exclusion, but one of mutual cooperation. The Church needs the State, and the State needs the Church. Both have distinct spheres of competence, but both need to contribute to a well-ordered and balanced society. To try to form a government without acknowledging a Supreme Being is lunacy, for it certainly leads to chaos. Civil law cannot sustain civil order without a basis in natural and divine law. The very first sentence of our Declaration refers to “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,” and the second and most famous sentence affirms that our endowments are from “the Creator,” not from ourselves: “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….” Let us give thanks that we live in a nation founded on godly principles! And let us study so as to understand the genius of our own Constitution, and work to preserve it from corruption.
I want to say just a word about Fr. John Corapi, who left the priesthood two weeks ago. Many faithful Catholics have followed his spirited preaching over the years. We cannot help but be discouraged when a gifted and apparently faithful priest abandons his vows. But in the end, sadly, Fr. Corapi valued his media career more than the priesthood. It was a grave error. The vows a priest makes to Christ are of infinitely more value than any “work” he can do. Jesus teaches us that the “work” we must do is to “believe in the One God sent.” Let us pray that all who make vows persevere in fidelity to those vows.
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