7/4/2013 – Thursday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time – Fourth of July – Psalm 115:1-6, 8-9

        I enjoy reading the psalms and listening to the poetic language contained in them, but it sometimes takes a while for their meaning to come alive.  Today we hear the psalmist declare – “I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.”  The psalmist wishes to walk as if in the presence of God in the midst of his journey here on earth.  There are many here on earth who only regard man’s presence, who only care about man’s law and man’s rule of conduct and give no thought to God whatsoever.  We see this so often in our secular world today.  We want to show tolerance and to do the right thing, but if we have so baseline or set of values on which we are basing our tolerance, then do we say that just about anything is permissible in our society?

         Today, as we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, we celebrate the end of our Fortnight for Freedom.  As you recall, the USCCB called the Fortnight for Freedom in order to bring attention to our religious freedom and how it is being threatened both here in our own country and in other places throughout the world.  Last year, our Diocese of Jackson even took the unusual step of filing suit against the federal government along with other dioceses and Catholic organizations throughout the country in response to the HHS mandate that violates our Catholic values.  During this Fortnight for Freedom, our Church has tried to draw attention to the growing intrusions on religious liberty like the HHS mandate. That mandate takes effect this coming August 1st, making this year's Fortnight especially important.  As we celebrate our nation’s independence today, we pray for the protection of religious liberty and an increased respect for the role of faith in public life.  We pray that we recognize that we do walk in the presence of the Lord on our journey here on earth, that there is more to life than having a regard to human judgment and opinion.  May the values and wisdom conveyed by our Bishops during this Fortnight for Freedom continue to lead and guide our prayers and our actions.