This past week, we celebrated the birth of “One  nation under God, with liberty and justice for all…born and unborn!, an experiment in the right of all people to govern themselves.

The Scripture readings for this Sunday offer food for reflection, and God’s recipe for peace.

The first reading is from the last prophecies of Isaiah, written as the Israelites are returning from the Babylonian captivity.

We hear that the Lord offers a future of peace and prosperity to Israel   “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.”

In the Gospel, Jesus and His apostles, and his 72 disciples, are on the way to Jerusalem to fulfill this ancient prophecy.

In every village and hamlet, they preach the Good News, heal the sick and drive out demons. 
Jesus has instructed them to travel very light, relying on the common people to feed and protect them (they are not to take staff or traveling bag). 

Unfortunately, Jerusalem rejects  the message, puts the Son of God to death, and seals its own fate
There will be no peace for Jerusalem, but rather its destruction in the year 70!    No wonder that, when Jesus arrives, He weeps over the city’s rejection, again using the image of God as tender-hearted mother.

Will our nation ever know peace again?  Will we ever know that religious freedom which the early citizens of our land enjoyed for so long? 

Our constitution clearly assumes that our right to freedom comes from God.  It comes from following God’s laws.
Freedom comes when the individual sacrifices his own selfish interests for the freedom and dignity of all its citizens.

Just as Jesus sacrificed His life for the salvation of all, so the good citizen subordinates his wants to the common good of a nation.  

When Catholics spread the Good News as the 72 disciples did, they will find the power of God’s sacrificial love, a model for peace and prosperity within our own country.

It will also bring a new authenticity to our nation’s efforts to bring peace to other nations.

And so we pray, “God bless America!”