Columnist Gretchen Crowe shares a secret: She dreads the Fourth of July every summer: “Not because I hate America or hot dogs or independence or even the fireworks that threaten to wake up my darling sleeping kids (though that last one kind
Catholic leaders throughout the U.S. are calling for prayer and action after gun violence scarred the long July 4 holiday weekend in 18 states plus the nation's capital. The rampages between June 30 and July 5 left 25 dead and 145 injured.
It’s funny what can spark up nostalgia. For Father Patrick Briscoe, it was a fireworks show accompanied by the 1972 Carpenters hit “Top of the World.” He writes: “It was a perfect night. At that moment, I couldn’t help but notice the
An 18th-century prayer for the government composed by the first U.S. Catholic bishop is still relevant today, according to Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore. “The prayer of Archbishop John Carroll is timeless in elegance and its completeness and evinces a deep
Every year, Americans celebrate Independence Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On this day, we affirm the Declaration’s assertion that humans are endowed with unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” and that the
As we celebrate Independence Day, Catholics, Christians and all citizens of the United States should ask themselves: Where does freedom come from? As the Our Sunday Visitor Editorial Board writes: “That our true freedom is given to us by God himself wasn’t
Scott Richert reflects on how his opinion of patriotism has changed over the years. He writes: “When I was young, Independence Day was always observed on the Fourth of July. It didn’t matter if the Fourth fell on a Friday, a Sunday
In the past months, writes the editorial board, we have had to reinvent community in many ways. Families have become their own islands of community. With schools closed, parents became elementary and high school teachers. With day cares shuttered, they worked and