Freedom!

Benediction July 3, 2009


Tonight we come to the eve of our nation’s birthday before the Eucharistic Jesus. July 4th always brings us memories of great family or community events and a chance to reflect on freedom. But as Fr. John Corapi said recently, freedom must come with truth. He quotes John’s Gospel: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32.

While we rejoice in our freedoms as a people and as a nation, what makes us truly free? Perhaps it is exactly what Fr. Tim Vakoc said to his family before he left for Iraq as an army chaplain: “the safest place for me to be is at the center of God’s will. And if that places me in the line of fire, so be it.” Those words would ring out for Fr. Tim’s family as he was gravely wounded in 2004. He would face over 5 years of living in a wheelchair and not being able to speak much before he died last week. Again, at his funeral those words were repeated: “the safest place for me to be is at the center of God’s will.” That is true freedom; the freedom and peace that helps us endure the journey in this world, so we may rejoice in the world to come. It is the freedom and peace to understand what we have here before us tonight: the real presence of our Lord and Savior, who as a man came to bring peace, and died for our sins. As it says in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, “for freedom, Christ has set us free.” Gal. 5:1.

If on this Independence Day, if we truly want to reflect on freedom, let’s turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Paragraphs 1730 – 1748 are dedicated to the subject of freedom. Here are a few highlights:

- human freedom attains its perfection when directed toward God.
- The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes.
- Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being.


In the Book of Genesis, when God spoke to Abraham to initiate His covenant, he told Abraham: “I will make a great nation of you; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you may be a blessing.” Gen 12:2-3.

Tonight, before the Blessed Sacrament, as we ponder our freedom, the freedom Fr. Tim found, the freedom the Lord Jesus won for us, may this too be our prayer:


Father, make a great nation of us; bless us and make our name great; may we too be a blessing!

May God bless America and may America bless God.