Independence DayJuly 04, 2022

Independence Day

In the 1960s a singing group called, Up with People, recorded the song called: “Freedom isn’t Free.” The lyrics of the song tell the story of how our freedom is won every day from Valley Forge until today. Freedom is won by men and women who are willing to pay the price by sacrificing for the freedom that we enjoy. It is won by all of us who are seeking ways to enhance life for one another. It is won by those who look for ways to open hearts and minds to recognizing that God leads us toward a new world in which the lion and the lamb lie together, a world in which all are welcome, a world in which unity is the prime motivation.

So, we celebrate our INDEPENDENCE this week. This is a significant commemoration of that freedom that we have had since 1776. The journey has not been easy. Our steps have often faltered and been challenged by difficulties which have threatened our progress and our very liberty as a people. And yet, we have held the course embracing those unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of us – all 335,000,000of us.

In the current age we seem to have lost the notion of oneness, the understanding of unity. We are faltering today because of a misunderstanding of freedom. Today, then, let us keep in mind that if we are not all free then truly none of us is free; that our union includes a diverse population; and that the success of this union rests on our interdependence. So, as we celebrate let us thank God for the gift of freedom and ask for a deeper commitment to interdependence that will make the union of our states stronger and our lives more connected to each other and to the Source of all gifts, our God.

Sister Mary Ellen Brinovec