Religious Freedom and Striving to Be Perfect
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Independence Day)
Deuteronomy 10.17-21; Matthew 5.43-48
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach
Today we take a break from our liturgical calendar. While it is still the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, I have chosen not to use the propers—the readings and collect of the day—assigned for this particular Sunday. Instead, I have chosen to use the propers for Independence Day. Even though, according to the rules guiding liturgical celebrations, I should not be doing this since Independence Day was yesterday and not today. However, I felt that this liturgical infraction was warranted given the fact that yesterday we celebrated a milestone in our nation’s history: the celebration of the 250th anniversary of declaring our independence. And also warranted given what seems to be happening to religious freedom after 250 years of independence. So, in honor of our Founding Fathers and Mothers, I am exercising my religious freedom so that we can collectively celebrate who we are, where we have been, and where we are today, as one expression of God’s people in the United States of America. And, to look at where we go from here if the liberties declared 250 years ago are to continue for another 250 years, God willing.
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