Praying For Our Nation

Yesterday, in the United States, we celebrated Memorial Day.  It is a day for us to honor those who gave their lives in service for our country, not for the glory of war but rather for the defense of freedom and the protection of the unalienable rights given to all by God. 

We celebrated Memorial Day this year mindful of the coming 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that declared the United States of America a free and independent nation.   

We must remember the words found in our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Our country was founded to guarantee these rights for the colonists.  We give these words proper honor when we seek to ensure everyone enjoys these rights given by God. 

Our nation was founded by people seeking religious freedom.  On our currency we read, “In God We Trust.”  In the Pledge of Allegiance, we say, “one nation under God.” 

As we celebrate 250 years, we are invited to pray for our nation.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers ways of praying for our nation at https://www.usccb.org/weholdthesetruths.   

Why should we pray for our nation?  It is always good to pray for any individual, group, or nation to follow God’s Will (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4).  The proper question is not should we pray for our nation.  The answer to that question is always yes.  The proper question is what should we be praying regarding our nation. 

To answer this question, we need to look at the state of our nation and the whole world.  I think of my recent articles like “From Peace to Peace,” “The Morality of the War with Iran,” “The World is a Mess,” “The World Needs Love,” and “Pray for Peace…What is Peace?”).    

If you have read these articles, then you know why I say the world is a mess.  We need God’s help.  That’s why when we pray for our nation, it is not a matter of praying for things to be the way we want them to be.  It is not a matter of praying for any political party to get its way.  It is not a matter of praying for any particular elected official to get their way.  The proper way to pray for our nation is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  

Our nation and the whole world will be great when it fulfills God’s Will.  What makes America great is not determined by any personal ideology, popular opinion, or any political party or ambition.  A nation is great when it respects the dignity of every person.  A nation is great when it realizes that with rights come responsibilities.  A nation is great when it turns to God to know what is good. 

God determines what is good and what is wrong for “God is love” (1 John 4:16).  God does not just define what is good.  God is the very nature of what it means to be good. 

Our nation needs prayer to end the polarization and division plaguing our nation.  It seems to me that politicians, in fact not just politicians, but people from all works of life do not present arguments for their positions.  They just declare themselves to be right because they say so.  We need to see real dialogue not to win our position but rather to determine what God has defined to be good and justice.  (For a sense of the dialogue I am referring to, see my article “Seeking Real Dialogue.”) 

We need to pray for our nation, most especially our elected leaders, to understand what peace is.  We need to pray for all to understand what is just in the eyes of God.  Thinking of our Declaration of Independence’s referral to unalienable rights, we need to pray that all understand when life begins and when it ends because the moment life begins at conception, the child in the womb has the same rights as everyone one else until its natural death (for more on when life begins and when it ends, see my article, “The Beginning and the End”). 

Our nation needs a lot of prayer to return to knowing God as its creator.  The USCCB’s initiative, We Hold These Truths, provides us with ways to pray for our nation.  Today I would like to make you aware of one particular part of this initiative, the consecration of our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.   

The restoration of the United States of America to true greatness is not a matter of politics.  It is not a matter of popular opinion or any one person or group’s ideology.  What will make our nation great is a return to the love that burns in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Jesus demonstrates this love when He willingly lays down his life for us on the Cross (see John 15:13).   

Jesus did not come to do his own will.  He came to do our Father’s Will, even when it required suffering.  We see this in the words He prayed in the garden, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).   

Jesus came to save us (see John 3:16-17).  You can trust Jesus. 

Our U.S. Bishops invite us to join in consecrating our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in two ways.  First, they invite us to participate in a novena from June 3^rd to June 11^th to consecrate our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  You can find the novena online at https://www.usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus. 

They also invite us to join in the Mass consecrating our nations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  It is scheduled to be televised on EWTN and streamed on the USCCB website (www.usccb.org) on Thursday, June 11th at 4:00 pm.   

Will you join in praying for our nation?  Will you join in consecrating our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? 

Peace, 

Fr. Jeff