Happy July4th!

My Dear Parishioners,

Happy Fourth of July and Happy 250th Birthday of our Nation. May we be blessed this weekend and may our nation be blessed.

Our Sunday Gospel passage seems a little out of place for Independence Day Weekend. It is a Gospel that is often proclaimed while administering Last Rites to the dying. Yet, it really does fit, because it is a Gospel of great hope and great consolation. It is a Gospel that reminds us where true freedom lies.

Independence Day celebrates national freedom, but in the biblical sense, true freedom is freedom from sin and the burdens of life through Christ. The political freedom won for us by our Founding Fathers is a gift of a nation’s self-governance. The Spiritual freedom won for us by Christ, however, is infinitely more important. Our spiritual freedom is a gift of God, offered freely in Jesus, who does not force love but invites willing commitment to love as God loves.

This reality brings us to our right to “choose.” We Americans value the right to choose. Thankfully, Jesus offers us the freedom to choose Him. His “easy yoke” is the life, the truth, and the way to true freedom. His “easy yoke” is a path of love, service, and trust that leads to rest for the soul, even in the midst of pain and confusion. His “easy yoke” frees us from slavery to the Devil and gives us the freedom to live as God’s “little ones.”

So, this Independence Day, we have a lot to celebrate. As our nation celebrates political liberty and an important Birthday, we also celebrate that Jesus offers a deeper, eternal freedom — the freedom to rest in Him, to trust Him, and to live in the light of His gentle, humble heart. This is the kind of independence that no earthly power can take away. This is the kind of independence that leads to Eternal Life.

This Independence Day Weekend, and this celebration of our Semiquincentennial, let us celebrate as the best of Americans, good Catholic Americans. Let us give thanks to God Our Father, through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for the gift of freedom. Let us continue to entrust to God’s love and mercy all of those who gave much so that we may be free, both politically and spiritually.

Let us continue to generously share our gifts with others through our prayers and acts of charity, and may our sharing of these gifts be pleasing to God and bring others to know Him and to love Him.

Let us continue to pray for our nation, for peace and justice, for wisdom for our leaders, for blessings on our military, for strength and unity, for prosperity for all. Let us continue to pray for the Graces needed to build that “shining city on a hill,” firmly rooted in Jesus, and a beacon of true freedom and justice for all.

On behalf of our faithful staff, I wish all a very Happy and Blessed Independence Day Weekend.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us and our nation!

Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor