Consider the Significance of Our Place in the American Community (E-Pistle)

Espanol

As we begin the month of July, we mark our nation’s celebration of Independence Day; a time to take a break from our daily labors and consider the significance of our place in the American community.  

We do this firstly with gratitude for the freedom that allows us to practice our Catholic faith, something not possible for some people in the world.  This lived American Catholic experience occurs in our parishes, Catholic schools, workplaces, homes and neighborhoods.   By living our faith each day in all aspects of life, we manifest Christ’s love for the world by loving our brother and sister; we become Christ’s epiphany in the world.  

With our call to faithful citizenship and Christian discipleship comes challenges and rewards. Bringing Christ into the workplace, school, and neighborhood makes our lives holy as we set aside judgement and see the other as part of the Mystical Body of Christ.  When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers, and when one part of the body is fully alive, then the whole body is enlivened. As we live out our responsibilities as individuals of a civil society we are strengthened by our baptismal promises as Christians.  

May this 4th of July, citizens and immigrants together, cultivate in us a profound gratitude for our country, communities, families, friends, and the gift of our Catholic faith rooted in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. I wish each of you a blessed and safe Independence Day and may the patroness of our nation, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, intercede for us in asking for God’s blessings upon America.