July 4, 2008: St. Elizabeth of Portugal & USA Independence Day

On this day, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, the patron saint of Catholic Charities. Although she was born into enormous wealth, her freedom led her to give away her riches to the poor. She remains a model of authentic Christian freedom. Our freedom should not be a freedom from God but should be a freedom for God. So often, we mistake freedom to be just physical and external. Freedom comes from within. St. Elizabeth is quoted of saying that, “God made me queen so that I may serve others.” She saw her whole success as rooted in God and this success is not for her own selfish ends but for her selfless service to others.
As we celebrate our independence day today, what is our independence or freedom? Is it from God or for God? As much as we may complain about the direction of our country or the problems in our country; as much as we may be cynical about our politics or our politician, we still remain the best democracy in the world. God has blessed us so much and we have the responsibility to share those blessings with others. Our freedom must lead us to bring freedom to others who are in bondage. Sometimes our own policies have not promoted freedom in other parts of the world. While some countries are politically independent, they are still economically dependent on us and sometimes our policies do not necessarily promote their own good but our own good. As a Christian people, we must always stand for what is right and just in the world even if it means making us look “unpatriotic.” I dare to challenge you that we are first Christians and then Americans.
Like St. Elizabeth of Portugal, let us work hard to bring about peace and justice everywhere in the world. We must look at the problems in Zimbabwe as our problems; the problems in China as our problems; the problems in Palestine, Jerusalem, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. as our problems. Their welfare must be our utmost priority as our own welfare because we are all created in the image and likeness of God.