What a blessing it is to live in the home of the free and land of the brave! As we celebrate the 4th of July, let us remember all those who have laid down their lives in sacrifice for our liberty. Let us celebrate the heritage passed down to us from the founding fathers of America, who suffered and died for their principles and their fervent desire for freedom. And let us continually thank God for the independence of our nation!
God could have created a perfect world. He could have arranged things so as to prevent us from falling into the pit by our sinful, despicable actions. He’s all powerful, after all. This would have been so easy for God. But that’s not how He decided to do things. He decided to preserve our free will, to solicit our love and obedience, risking not receiving the honor and regard due to Him. We fall many times, we fall again and again. In fact, it could be called an eternal let-down by us, the creature, in reference to the Creator.
One of the most liberating gifts that we can receive from the Heart of our Heavenly Father and Jesus, our Savior, is the free gift of mercy. But do you sometimes find yourself struggling to receive this gift? I mean really receive, in the innermost depth of your being with unshakable certainty?
In the Anáhuac Valley of Mexico, on a barren hill called Tepeyac, Our Lady of Guadalupe came as a “merciful Mother,” a healer and restorer of all who are broken in body and in spirit. It is an amazing thought to consider that the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars” would place her feet upon the bloodstained soil of a nation’s festering woundedness.