Father Stanko's Blog
PASTOR’S PONDERINGS
As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we should reflect on the freedoms that we have as Americans. Many times we take these freedoms for granted, but there are so many people throughout the world who do not have the freedom to criticize their government, nor do they have the freedom of worship.
We have the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. However, we think about all those people who lived in the former Soviet Union who were denied the freedom to worship God. Today in Russia things are a little better, but there seems to be the tendency of going back to the "old ways" of the former Soviet Union. Also, our Catholic brothers and sisters do not have the freedom to practice their Catholic faith in many places of the world today such as China. Many Catholics are suffering for their faith in that large, mysterious country. Added to this, Catholics in Islamic countries are denied basic religious freedoms. Muslims are free to build their mosques here in America, but Christians living in many parts of the Middle East are denied this basic freedom.
I reflect on the tenacity of those early colonists who fought to achieve our freedom. For the most part they were common, ordinary people with a lot of courage, insight, and just plain, ordinary guts. They gave us a constitution and a government which are still the envy of the world. The government that they gave us is not a perfect one, but can you find a better one on the face of the earth? We have the power to change our government in a peaceful way through the ballot box, but how many of us vote and vote responsibly. Let us always protect the sacredness of human life from birth until natural death.
As we continue to have our picnics and eat our hot dogs, hamburgers and watermelon, let us thank God for these freedoms and become more resolute in our task to protect these freedoms which we so many times take for granted. The freedoms that we take for granted are slowly being infringed upon by various groups in our country. Also, let us remember the young men and women in our armed forces who are serving our country in such trouble spots as Afghanistan and Iraq. May you all have a blessed Fourth of July weekend with family and friends.