231st Independence day in America

In God we trust
The Commander in Chief in the American Revolution and the Signer of the Constitution and the First President of the United States George Washington said “ It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
Today, our nation celebrates its 231st birthday, the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. The "stars and stripes" was adopted as our national flag the following year, June 14, 1777. The United States' Constitution was ratified in 1788, 219 years ago. In 1954, both Houses of Congress adopted the resolution to add the words "under God"" to the pledge, which President Eisenhower signed into law on Flag Day of that year.
In a subsequent message to the Knights of Columbus, President Eisenhower put a very different emphasis on the phrase "under God": "These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded."
I think now, fifty three years later, it is appropriate to do a "reality check": do these words succeed in keeping us humble. Do they effectively focus our minds and hearts on the spiritual and moral principles of human dignity?
Even more problematic than the word "God" is the word "under." "Under" means submission. Do we really live as a nation "under" God? Is the humility that President Eisenhower spoke of in any way valued among our national virtues? Do we, even the Christians of our nation, truly seek to discover and follow God's will in relation to affairs of national interest?
Are we under God trusting in Him helping each other as one Family and we say together we stand. When we stand together we need to know the pain of others. How many are deeply wounded and in need of healing? How many are living their lives without hope, without faith and without love? Every day is a harvest day.
Mother Teresa has this to say about this matter. "Many today are starving for ordinary bread, but that is not the only hunger there is. There is another hunger - hunger to be wanted, to be loved, to be recognized. Nakedness too is not just the want of clothes. It is also the loss of dignity, loss of purity, loss of respect. And there is homelessness which is not just want for a house made of bricks, but the homelessness of being rejected, of being unwanted, of being unloved in a throwaway society".

When we celebrate the Freedom are we really free? Freedom is not an American idea. Freedom is God's idea and God's plan for our lives! Let's read together what Saint Paul tells us today in our second reading, in his letter to the Galatians: Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (Galatians 5:1)
There are two kinds of freedom, and God is concerned about both. First, there is outer freedom. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, and in the book of Exodus, God says: "I am the Lord, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt." (Exodus 6:6, NLT) God was concerned that his people were slaves, that they were being oppressed and that they were not free. Today, God is still concerned about outer freedom – that many people live enslaved to poverty, to injustice, to oppression.
God also is concerned about inner freedom. God does not want us to be enslaved to our sin. Maybe this is the greatest slavery and the greatest threat to our freedom in this country – not so much material slavery (though there is still great poverty in our country), but spiritual poverty and spiritual slavery. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free… I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin…So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free." (John 8:31-32, 34. 36)
Trust in God and united we will pray for the Nations. America is young and there are young leaders of our nations live among us. When President Thomas Jefferson died, Abe Lincoln was a teenager, 17 years old; when Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8 years old; and when Woodrow Wilson died, Ronald Reagan was 12 years old. America is very, very young. And yet, we have been very blessed.

Let us stand as we celebrate the 231st Birthday of the Nations lets make the pledge: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." --official version since 1954
In God we trust