It's from last July, but I still really like Archbishop Dolan's (In)dependence Day message, "Declaring our Dependence (on God)." A good moral-anthropology thought, on this so-important-in-the-history-of-the-world occasion:
My friend Cardinal Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago, comments that perhaps the most revolutionary statement we can make these days is the opening line of the creed, "We believe in God, the Father Almighty... " as we pray at every Sunday Mass.
We look forward to all the festivities of our national holiday, the Fourth of July, this weekend.
We call it Independence Day, celebrating our independence from England, sealed on July 4, 1776, won at the cost of the blood of brave patriots during the Revolutionary War.
However, to profess our faith that "We believe in God, the Father Almighty... " is actually an act of dependence: we admit that every breath we take, each day we have, every opportunity we are given, come from an omnipotent God, and we bask in the fact that we are totally dependent upon Him. He is sovereign, He is Lord, He has power and dominion. "Without Him, we can do nothing; with Him, nothing is impossible."
Yes, this spiritual Declaration of Dependence is downright revolutionary. For today, it is chic to throw off—not the shackles of allegiance to King George, as our brave patriots gallantly did—but any sense of obedience to God, His revelation and the basic code of right and wrong He has engraved upon the human heart. . . .
