The Israelites entered into a sacred covenant, promising to follow God’s laws, as summarized in the 10 Commandments. In return, God promised to lead and protect the Israelites, giving them good health and prosperity. Of course we know what happened. The people were not able to keep their promise, soon fell into the worship of idols, and broke the covenant. Their nation became fractured and was soon defeated by numerous other tribes.
Much later, Jesus would establish a new and eternal (unbreakable) covenant, offering His own Body and Blood in order to free us from the slavery of sin. He very clearly explained what He was doing at the Last Supper when He said, “This is My Blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” (Mark 14:24). Luke recounts it in these words: “This is My Blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured out in behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 26:28). This covenant is eternal and cannot be broken because Jesus entered into it with God the Father, offering His Body and Blood on behalf of all humanity. Jesus did not replace God’s law, but perfected it by living it, explaining it, and demonstrating how we too can love and forgive as God does. Because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and as part of this new covenant, Jesus is present in this world under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, and He lives within us in the Holy Spirit of God, making us the “Body of Christ” on earth. Today marks the feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for "Body of Christ") which has been celebrated since the 13th century, commemorating Jesus' saving action of offering His Body and Blood for our salvation in the New Covenant sealed in His Blood.
For our part, we are asked not only to believe, but to make the effort to know, love, and serve God. He has given us guidelines for life and for happiness, and through this new and eternal covenant, has assured us that He will never leave us alone. Of course, we can choose to ignore God’s law and to disregard His presence in our lives, but we do so at our own peril.
Coincidentally, our nation celebrated the 223rd anniversary of the introduction of the Bill of Rights, last Friday. It came about because a number of the founding fathers, including Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and others were concerned that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government. Jefferson encouraged James Madison to draft the bill of rights, which he proposed to Congress on June 8, 1789 with the following comments:
The amendments which have occurred to me, proper to be recommended by congress to the state legislatures are these:
First. That there be prefixed to the constitution a declaration That all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from the people.
That government is instituted, and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”
Our founding fathers realized that unless every citizen was free to practice the faith of their choosing, the colonies would never be united because factional disputes, oppression, and rebellion would be commonplace. At the same time, they were acutely aware that democracy would only work if the people had faith in God and were encouraged to adhere to the Christian moral code. Rather than establish a secular democracy, they conceived a nation built on the principles defined in the Bill of Rights, starting with the first freedom, the freedom to practice religion unfettered by government dictates. The First Amendment is meant to protect each person from government interference in the practice of their faith; it is not meant to protect the government from religion as so many now incorrectly surmise. The founding fathers encouraged religious belief and saw it as essential to the health of the nation. They envisioned a people motivated by their religious beliefs to seek the common good based on Judeo-Christian morality. They did NOT intend to exclude religion from the public square, and spoke openly and passionately about the importance of the moral underpinnings of our democracy.
In his farewell speech, George Washington warned against the dangers of secularism and cited the importance of religion and morality as indispensable to the success of our fledgling nation. Washington saw religion as the foundation of public morality and cautioned that morality could not be sustained without religion which he viewed as the source of personal and public happiness as well as the common good. He said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights form the basis of a covenant between government and the people. When we ignore these guidelines, we put our freedom and our democracy at risk, and that’s exactly what’s going on right now in the Executive and Judicial branches of our government. Our president has directed the Justice Department to not only ignore a duly passed law of congress, but to begin efforts at repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. In complete disregard for the first amendment, he has also directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to mandate that every employer provide for chemical abortions, surgical sterilization, and all forms of birth control in their health plans, even though this violates the religious beliefs of many employers. At the same time, federal judges routinely overturn democratic elections when they dislike the outcome of a majority vote, trumping the will of the people and imposing their personal agendas. These are violations of the constitution and the bill of rights, and represent a break in the covenant between government and the people whose freedoms are being violated.
Forty-three Catholic institutions (so far) have filed lawsuits in federal court to overturn the HHS mandate, and they are supported by thousands more Catholic employers as well as the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops. Later this month the Catholic Church in America will take unprecedented action and unite in prayer for our country, calling for respect for the constitution and the first amendment. This “fortnight of prayer” for our country commences June 21st. Let’s hope that the Body of Christ, His Church on earth, will make known its conviction that the US Constitution is a covenant we respect and support because it recognizes that all of our rights come from God, not government, and that government has no business abridging our God-given liberty to practice our faith without interference from the abuse of political power.
No comments:
Post a Comment