Out of his generous, loving heart, God gives us the natural rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But these God given natural rights have been defended and nurtured by freedom loving Christians who have gone before us. We must do the same for our children.
In our country, the government does not tell us what career we must choose, but that is not true in some countries. There are some governments who basically tell students what career they will have. In India, which is primarily Hindu and Muslim, there is a cultural caste system that prevents a class of people called the “untouchables” from pursuing professional careers like doctors, teachers and dentists. From the perspective of God’s Natural Law, that is considered unjust discrimination.
Our country is different. Our country has been established on Judeo-Christian principles embodied 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.”All humans are equal in dignity, made in God’s image, but not equal in ability. For example, not everyone can become an astronaut, a teacher or a doctor just because they want to be “happy” in that career. Thus, organizations and sometimes the government need to justly dis-criminate against those who are unable or unwilling to study sufficiently to be a member of a particular profession.
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a sacred order. Without our government and “We the people” protecting the first gift of “life”, and the other gifts of “liberty” (especially religious liberty that points to God’s gift of life) and “the pursuit of happiness” (based on knowing the truth of reality), all true rights and responsibilities are weakened. We are called to love and protect every person, even those for whom we disagree, by lovingly presenting the truth about everyone’s God given natural rights and responsibilities.
Yet, some are willing to destroy God’s gift of “life” and take away the sacred order of how life is received – the natural union of a man and woman. These con-fused people defend the false right to abortion and the false right to homosexual marriage. They are moving our nation away from God’s design of a fully human society ordered to God’s glory and blessings. Clearly abortion is unjust discrimination because it does not protect unborn babies from being murdered in the womb. We also need to defend children who have a natural, God given right to a mom and a dad because marriage is ordered to the natural gift of the life and development of children.
The best way we can protect “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” which is part of God’s plan of salvation, is to live a life of deepening conversion to Jesus Christ. We need to follow Jesus more closely within his Catholic Church and pray for the conversion of confused sinners; even to the point of making sacrifices to convert and win over hearts and minds to God and his sacred order.
To that point, please consider praying the Rosary as a family, or join us in praying the Patriotic Rosary after Mass over what we call “Fortnight for Freedom,” which begins Saturday, June 22 until Friday, July 5 (First Friday), after all the Masses.
As our parish June Calendar notes, June 22 begins this special time of praying and fasting. That day is the Feast of two heroes of the faith: St. Thomas More, an English lay man, and St. John Fisher, an English Bishop. Both witnessed to the truth of Christ and his Catholic Church by being martyred at the hands of King Henry the VIII, instead of being an accomplice to his heresy and treason against God and his Catholic Church.
The Patriotic Rosary was written by a member of Caritas Community, Alabama. It dedicates one Hail Mary in the Rosary to each state in our country, and asks God’s protection, guidance and blessing for our nation – that all who live here would follow more closely God’s natural and supernatural laws of blessing and saving grace. You can find the Patriotic Rosary sheets near the entry way of our churches.
As we read in today’s second reading by St. Paul: “The love of Christ impels us…that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-17.
God bless you and America!
Fr. Thomas McCabe