“Without authority there is no liberty. Freedom is doomed to destruction at every turn, unless there is a recognized right to freedom. And if there are rights, there is an authority to which we appeal for them.” G.K.’s Weekly, April 28, 1928

In an America that is sorely weakened and fractured by an unrestrained abuse of authority and freedom it could be easy for a patriotic spirit to fizzle out as quickly as your favorite firework. Thankfully, the truly patriotic spirit can handle quite the punch and put up quite the fight as it ceaselessly continues to battle on in undaunted service to God and country. Warring political parties do not encumber the love that beats deeply in the hearts of the free and of the brave. This spirit honors the blood shed by its soldiers; it cherishes its fellow men; it protects the future seen in its children; it valiantly defies the degradation attempting to blanket every county in our nation; it endeavors to rightly restore struggling governmental structures and strives to preserve its beautiful homeland.

Such enduring faithfulness isn’t for the faint of heart. And where else will true patriotism anchor its roots and find wings if not in our little homes and small communities? These are the legs of our nation. If they are not strongly united and fortified with grace, truth and good ol’ fashioned American grit they will not serve much use. Armed with devotion to the Ultimate Authority and exercising our freedom within the realm of morality and virtue we can foster a patriotic spirit that will reverberate across generations. So, I sincerely hope you and yours had a safe and wonderful 4th of July. I hope you proudly hoisted those lovely stars and stripes, sang our nation’s anthem at the top of your lungs, enjoyed wonderful company, ate all the s’mores and “oooh’d & aaah’d” over every firework! Together let’s carry a virtuous patriotic spirit and a genuine American pride into our every day…giving thanks for our freedom and building strong families and communities under God in the hopes that one day America will heal its divisions and stand strong and erect as one nation under God.

“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (St. Mark 12:17)