Sunday, July 2, 2023 -  Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Pro Deo, Familia,  Patriaque – For God, Family, and Country
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
May God bless you and your loved ones on this Fourth of July weekend!
For us Catholics the time has indeed come when we must make clear where we stand as believers living in America.  Though there is much good to celebrate in America, as believers we understand certain developments, especially in the last fifty years, have made us uncomfortable at best, deeply troubled at worst.  Though it was once thought that the Judeo-Christian ethic and God’s Natural Law, were the foundation of the pursuit of happiness, the common good, and our system of laws, it is now clear that our country is moving in a direction we cannot approve.  But where does that leave us?  Are we now without a homeland, a country?  Can we no longer be faithful Catholics and patriotic Americans?  My answer is that we can be both.  In fact, to be a faithful Catholic means that we will do our very best to be patriotic and loyal Americans.  However, we must make some distinctions.
Many years ago, while on a trip to England I heard a group of school children sing a lovely and inspiring song about love of country.  Here are the words by Sir Cecil Spring Rice (1859-1918), who was ambassador to the United States during World War I.  Later, it was put to music by Gustav Holst (1874-1934).  Here are the words:
I vow to thee my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.







And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.

In recent years this hymn has been criticized even in England.  However, it makes the right distinctions.  God is first, and then love of country.  Country does not mean a particular party or a nation’s unjust laws or current trends, but something beyond all that and above all that.  It is treasured like Motherhood or Fatherhood. In fact, in Latin we say Patria, which means Fatherland and is the root of words like patriotism and patriot.  Such love of country is always noble, good, and true.  It is that type of love of country that we must have to bring about the New Evangelization, that is, a  profound spiritual renewal.

I am reminded of a hymn that is in the American translation of the Liturgy of the Hours and which we used to sing in my seminary days.  Here are the words by W. P. Merrill (1867-1954):

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength,
To serve the King of Kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
His Kingdom tarries long;
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The Church for you doth wait:
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up, and make her great!



Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod,
As brothers of the Son of Man
Rise up, o men of God!

One motto I propose to Catholics in an increasingly secularized society is the following:  God, Family, and Country or in Latin: Pro Deo, Familia, Patriaque.  These are the priorities we must teach our children.  

God bless America!

Yours in the Lord,

Fr. Mark G. Mazza, pastor