Our greatest hope for freedom lies in the Cross of Jesus Christ and the founding principles represented in the flag of the United States of America.
The ideas of liberty and individual rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America are not unlike arguments found in Catholic thought for centuries leading up to the American Revolution and long after it.
The Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Through Baptism, Catholics become sons of God and identify with Jesus, the only One who can provide true freedom.
Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate their freedom on the anniversary of when the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.
Freedom is not a work of men alone :
One nation, under God, indivisible:
The blessing of freedom:
Thank God for freedom:
The only true freedom, the only freedom that can truly satisfy, is the freedom to do what we ought as human beings created by God according to his plan. It is the freedom to live the truth of what we are and who we are before God, the truth of our identity as children of God, as brothers and sisters in common humanity. That is why Jesus Christ linked truth and freedom together, stating solemnly: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free”. All people are called to recognize the liberating truth of the sovereignty of God over them both as individuals and as nations.
Pope John Paul II, Meeting with President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, September 10, 1987
Catholic contributions to American freedom:
Influential Catholics during America’s founding:
The blessing of equal liberty:
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. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5: 13-14
Freedom of the human person:
A golden triangle of freedom:
Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
Catechism of the Catholic Chuch 1731
Special prayers for Mass on Independence Day:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
A declaration of dependance:
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