INDEPENDENCE DAY

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Independence Day

As a young person, I was captivated by the stories of America on TV. The attraction of this great nation, with its vast opportunities and freedom, was undeniable. In 2018, I had the chance to experience this firsthand, and after nearly six years of living here, I can attest to its greatness.

Some of you may laugh when I say this, especially about what is happening today, but believe me, this country is greater than many countries worldwide. I lived in a communist country, and I know how hard it was.

But one question I always wonder is, what makes this country great? Many of you may agree that freedom makes this country great, especially the freedom of religion or religious liberty. Pope Benedict XVI stated that it is the "most cherished of American freedoms."

Many countries in the world do not have the same freedom we do. Many people are suffering because of living their faith.

Here's a question that often crosses my mind: does the presence of religious freedom necessarily strengthen our faith?

I cannot give an absolute answer, but if we look back at the history of the Church, one of the striving times for Christians was when they were persecuted. I lived in a communist country where religious liberty is very limited, but the faith of the people is growing. At the same time, many free countries in Europe are going down. Right now, the right question we need to ask is, do we correctly use the freedom God has given us? Are we using our freedom to worship God or to worship other things? Are we using our freedom to build up the community of God or ourselves only? Are we using freedom to choose God or other things? Like on Sundays, we may say sorry, God, I have a birthday party and must go. Sorry God, my kids have a game at school, so I have to be there with them. Sorry, God, I am busy today and cannot come to you. Are we rightly using the freedom God has given us?

The Magisterium of the Church in Gaudium et Spes teaches that “God gave us freedom so that we can love and choose Him without coercion—so we can be happy with Him forever.” God gave us freedom so we may live happily with each other, especially with him forever. However, we need to use our freedom correctly according to the will of God, not our will, because freedom isn’t a license to do what we want but a gift to choose the good.

St. Paul reminds us, “For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve* one another through love.”

Lastly, brothers and sisters, together with me, let us give thanks to God; let us be grateful to God for blessing us with this great country of freedom. I know we are having many problems now, but please have faith that, in the end, God always wins. He is a great daddy. He knows how to make his children strong and great.

Happy July 4th, and may God bless us all.