Some of the colonists who came to America over 300 years ago came seeking religious freedom.  When the United States became an independent nation, we adopted a constitution that included a Bill of Rights.  The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion.

Unfortunately, instead of seeking freedom of religion, there are people today who seek freedom from religion.  They don’t want to hear anything about religion.  Actually, I don’t know if they care about religion at all.  I suspect what many of them really want is to be able to live their lives however they want.  They don’t want anyone telling them what is right and wrong.  They want to ban any prayer in public.  They want to restrict the right of churches to speak up for what they believe in.

In doing so, they actually are trying to take away two rights guaranteed in the First Amendment, the Freedom of Religion and the Freedom of Speech.

This is not simply a Catholic issue.  This is an issue for each and every religious group in our country.  In less than a month, we will celebrate our nation’s independence on July 4th celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  The Declaration of Independence speaks of rights that we are endowed with by our creator.  God has been part of our country from the beginning.  Now, they are trying to kick God out.

If you go to www.Fortnight4Freedom.org, you can learn more about many different ways religious liberty is being impeded by looking at the fact sheets provided there.   You can also read an open letter signed by leaders of various religious groups.  It is not just Catholics.  The letter is one page.  The list of religious groups is four pages long.

During the Fortnight For Freedom I encourage you to take some time to pray for true religious liberty in the United States.  I also encourage you to pray for those in other countries who are persecuted, tortured, and even killed because of their faith.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff