13th Week of Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 7-4-23, Year A
Readings: First Reading Gn 19:15-29; Ps 26:2-3,9-12; Gospel Mt 8:23-27
Independence Day USA
Theme: Steadfast in the Lord Your God
We celebrate the birthday of our nation today. We are now 247 years old!
I wonder what the founding fathers would say about the state of our Union today.
Many people are adamant that the founding fathers had no intention of ever including God in the creation of the Union, the Constitution, and the laws. The founding fathers were sure to keep a healthy separation of church and state as part of the Union. But this separation of church and state did not mean that God had to be absent from any of the proceedings or governance.
Quite the contrary, God was constantly invoked in the courts, at inaugurations and through invocations at the start of meetings and congress. The moral compass of God’s Will was the basis for the creation of many of the freedoms they instituted so long ago. God was and will always be woven into the fabric of our country, whether some like it or not.
I want to draw a parallel between today’s readings and our nation as a Union. When we look at the reading from Genesis today, we see a pair of cities whose governance, over time, put their emphasis more in man than in God. Both Sodom and Gomorrah were most likely, at one time, devout to God and His laws. But, over time as people became more aware of their own desires rather than that of God’s, they squandered God’s love and corrupted themselves. There was no leadership to bring them back to God.
In the end, this diminished life of depravity and loss of a moral compass brought the rath of God upon them. The people were led astray by a corrupt and inept ruling government which brought their eventual demise. There was no one left in either city to pray for their salvation.
In Monday’s first reading, Abraham tried to find just one good person in either of these cities so God would spare them, but he did not find any. Only Lot and his family were spared because of the covenant God had made with Abraham for Lot and the nation that would come from him.
We can see similarities in our own nation today in the constant stripping away of anything having to do with God and His teachings. As the focus on God decreases and our own desires and rationale to live as we ought to increase, we see the same depravity and loss of moral compass regarding the teachings of Jesus.
Are we being led astray by a corrupt and inept government because of our own desires? The answer remains to be seen.
If the time ever comes where God has had enough of our selfishness and complete disdain for Jesus’s teaching because it goes against what we want, will He find any faithful people left to justify saving a nation? We can only hope so.
Remaining faithful to God through Jesus’s teachings is the only thing that will save us. We need to repent of our ways, stand up for the truth of who created us, take the abuse we will receive from those who do not believe, and be a person God would spare a nation for.
As the disciples were being tossed around in the boat by violent wind and waves, Jesus was resting calmly. As they cried to Him to save them from drowning, He exclaimed, “O you of little faith.” Even a little faith saved the disciples. There was no faith in Sodom and Gomorrah, which brought swift retribution from God.
I truly believe that this great nation of ours was built on goodness through faith in God and the graces He bestowed on us, and that there will always be people of faith who will stand up for what is truly right and good. Our nation will prevail because of such people.
Be steadfast in the Lord your God with faith in Jesus His Son and do not let the changing times and ideologies corrupt it. As Jesus has taught us, we believe and pray not only for ourselves, but for all those who do not believe or have been misled by corrupt leaders, in order that God might save them. Take comfort in knowing that it only takes one true believer to save a nation. Are you that one?
Saint James Catholic Church 