July 4th reminds me of my family roots. My mom sang in the USO (United Service Organizations), which started in World War II to entertain troops. My brother was a Marine in the South Pacific during that war. Seeing its carnage in films, I concluded, “It’s good that we learned lessons to never again get involved with holocausts and killing.” At least, that’s what I thought when I was about 12 years old. I didn’t know who the man was in photos at home that said “I like Ike” (I was told that he was the General who won the war in Europe and who became president). It was only later that I learned about his farewell warning to America that upset powerbrokers. He called us to be on guard against the “military-industrial complex” that was subtly becoming the real decision-maker in D.C. and undermining democracy.
Unfortunately, former President Eisenhower was a prophetic voice. 65 years after his warning, we have a country whose 1% has more wealth than the rest of the population combined, and a military that was put on display last week. At a time when “cost-cutting” solely benefits corporations, the Administration spends millions on a parade that is a carbon copy of such parades in Russia, China, and North Korea. Because of the trillions spent on war machines, Pope Leo celebrated Mass when the Administration conducted its liturgy celebrating our weapons of war. He did this to re-focus American and global attention OFF our killing machines and on the Prince of Peace. For years, the United States military budget has been larger than that of the next nine to ten highest-spending countries combined. Specifically, in 2024, the US spent $997 billion on defense, which exceeded the combined spending of China, Saudi Arabia, India, Russia, and others.
Seeing this unfold, I’m reminded of 40% of Americans not knowing what July 4th represents. And what are people saying when they fly flags from their truck or at home? I’m reminded of Germans in WW 2 loving their country as much as Americans loved theirs. And how was it that young and old German Catholics and Lutherans could worship Hitler? His Nazi propaganda machine created a mythology that portrayed Jesus as a German with light-colored hair and fair complexion who was taken from Germany to the Holy Land as a child. There he lived his life and was crucified by dark-skinned, black-haired Middle Easterners. Dictator Hitler, the “Führer” (“leader”), had masterfully blended this wholly false image of a German Jesus. Lies and bigotry spawned the holocaust and WW2—which is why it is important for us NOT to equate “God and country.” Recall the “brown shirts” of Hitler’s Germany—a paramilitary group that rounded up Jews and Gypsie and put them in gas chambers. With our “ICE” agents behaving similarly, the parallel is shameful.
German Christians died for Hitler, and German Christians died in their attempts to prevent him from allowing his madness to run amok on the world stage. It is still perplexing when reflecting that people of the same faith can be at odds with one another on whatever socio-political issue that arises. Opposition also occurs in matters of Church teaching or Church discipline or types of prayer & piety.
Because we’re rightly concerned about family matters and bill-paying, we often pay little attention to how legislation affects people outside our circle. As a result, we might be pleased that our taxes get somewhat reduced, but we are unaware of other legislation that benefits the wealthy while hurting the middle class and the poor. We’re glad to receive some kind of benefit, but we’re not fully aware that we’re being “bought” by lawmakers who pass legislation that favors the 1%—those with more wealth than the rest of us combined. This is an ongoing issue that’s always present. Additionally, many other issues in the world continue to fester, about which we often know very little.
What we DO know, as Christians, is that Jesus leads us by example, and that our lives should be, to the best of our ability, a reflection of his. Loving our little world of family and friends is good. But we are called beyond our little world and stand up for others because his life broadcast that “Everyone needs somebody in their corner—and that person is you.”
An eighty-year-old Sioux Indian told me “Everyone suffers like us Indians.” When hearing him, I wondered how unaware he was of his people’s plight and that they lived in the poorest county in the U.S. Only later did I realize he understood what Jesus taught—and that he was the “corner man” for someone, somewhere in being a member of a Church that had an outreach to all of God’s people. He knew what spiritual writer Louis Evely, meant when titling his book “That Man is You.”
We grow up and experience acceptance, but also rejection. We have friends, and we get bullied. We have moments in the sun, and we have cloudy days. We have moments of joy, and we have crosses. We are, as our faith tells us, “brothers and sisters in Christ.” We are a microcosm of the world’s people—a replica in small scale of everyone in some way.
The July 4th holiday should move us to remember the reflection regularly cited in the parish bulletin: “In Germany, they came first for the communists; I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the Jews; I did not speak because I was not a Jew. Then they came to fetch the workers, Members of the trade unions; I did not speak because I was not a trade unionist. Afterward, they came for the Catholics; I did not say anything because I was a Protestant. Eventually they came for me, And there was no one left to speak.”
-May God give us voice to speak in defense of one another.
Because of this history, and people everywhere inclined to regard their country as #1 in the world, we always need to be on guard not to confuse one with the other. No one should “worship” their country and replace God with flag-waving patriotism. Which is a long way of saying that July 4th is not a religious holiday. However, it CAN prod us to reflect on what we hold close to heart as Catholics. Each country can do the same. Keep in mind that when God created planet earth, He did not put boundary lines but instead gave everyone this Garden of Eden (from which we are in the process of once again being banished due to climate change and degradation of the environment).
I’m reminded of the nuclear sub, capable of killing millions because of its nuclear missile payload, being named Corpus Christi (translated as “body of Christ”). With this death ship carrying the name it did, the “military-industrial complex” was able to perpetrate a sacrilege in the name of patriotism. What a sacrilege! Associating the “body of Christ” with our nuclear arsenal on guard to exterminate millions of people. N.B., protesters were able to see the submarine name changed to the “City of Corpus Christi”—a concession that changed nothing and had Satan smiling at another victory for the dark force.
On this national holiday, we should keep in mind that God doesn’t bless America—alone. All nations and people are special in God’s eyes. Scripture says that God “loved the WORLD”—which means that God is in the world-loving business, not just the America-blessing business.
The world–sphere of 7.6 billion is who God loves: Muslims, Jews, Hindus, black, brown, white folks, Atheists, and lots and lots of non-Americans
America is not mentioned in the bible. No America First. No Making America Great Again. No flags or national anthems to pledge allegiance to. God’s vision extends beyond all borders, and as Genesis says, God created all lands and saw that they were good.
A few other bits of news from the Scriptures: Jesus was born in the Middle East. He didn’t speak English. He wasn’t white. He wasn’t Evangelical. He wasn’t a Republican. He wasn’t a Democrat. He wasn’t American. He wasn’t even Christian.
Jesus was a teacher who spoke about the “Kingdom of God”–where the poor were cared for, the oppressed freed, and the outcasts welcomed in. It’s impossible to be devoted to the Jesus of the Scriptures, while refusing refugees, expelling immigrants, demonizing Muslims, vilifying people of color, worshiping political power, and neglecting the poor. If you conflate God and America, you whitewash the Gospel.
Jesus was in direct opposition to the power-wielding Roman Empire, and had nothing to do with blessing a Government, or building an army, or dividing people from one another. To equate America, or any country, with the Gospels is heresy. To give thanks to God for giving us the parcel of earth we call “America” is proper and fitting.
With the publication of this bulletin comes the end of my effort to provide readers with thoughts based on theological and sociological studies I have come across in journals that have reputable thinkers provide worthwhile reflections on our faith tradition. Be assured that whatever appeared in the bulletin over the past 5.5 years was grounded in contemporary biblical scholarship and respected theologians. Which is only to say that I made sure to provide you with solid material drawn from reliable sources—and not from the countless writers who somehow get published their every thought. It has been a great honor to help expose you to “good theology.”
May we all, as is said of Jesus in the Gospel, “grow in wisdom and understanding.”
