Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 30, 2026 Column Father De Celles

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GODBLESS AMERICA! Thisweek wecelebratethe250th
anniversaryof signing of theDeclarationof Independence, the
birth of these UnitedStates ofAmerica. And it is right we
celebratethis Birthday.
But at birthday partieswe sing “Happy Birthday to
you…”andmaybe, “Forhe’s a jolly goodfellow…” Haveyou
ever beento a birthdaypartywhere they sang, “Forhe’snot a
jolly goodfellow!…Sometimes he’sa really bad fellow!”?Or
instead of “Happy Birthday to you!” they sang, “Unhappy
Birthday toyou!”
B
ut that’swhat a lot ofAmericansdowith July4th.
They say, “yes,we loveAmerica, but there’s a lot of things
wrong with it that need to change.”They take thedayas an
opportunity to tear downour nationandour history, todwell
especially onherpast sinsandhowthey makeAmericaabad
placeto livetoday.
C
onsider therecent Galluppoll that showedonly 58%
of U.S.adults say theyare“extremely”or “very”proudto bean
American. In January of 2001, that figurewas88%–a thirty
point drop. Weseethis inthenews every day,andyour friends
probablytalk about it. You may evendo thatsomewhat—evenif
you love America, you can’t helpbut notice theproblemswe
have today and you may even let it consume you. Even the
slogan, “MakeAmericaGreatAgain” presumesAmericais not
greatanymore—there’ssomethingwrong.
N
ow,don’t get mewrong.Americahasmade a lot of
mistakes inthepast,some terriblesins.Andtodaywe doneed to
make a lot ofchanges, somethings are obviously broken.
A
nd one of thethings that is brokenandthat needs to
change isalack ofpridein (“goodpride” asSt.Thomas calls it)
andlove for our country,Patriotism. And that’swhat the 4th of
July issupposed tobe about. Not “a time for reflectionon the
goodandthebad.”Atime tocelebrate the good! Wespendway
toomuch timereflecting—andworrying and arguing—about the
badthings.
T
he 4th is time to focuson what agreat countrywe
have.Yes it’s not perfect,but who says to the birthdaygirl or
boy,“hey,happybirthday,butyou’re not reallyperfect, solet’s
talk about the timeyouwere meanto….”?
N
O! Let’s focus on, be grateful for and celebrate
America’sgreatness! Weneed this, now—weneed tofocuson
andrevivify our loveforAmerica, orPatriotism.
A f
ew weeks ago I preached about “pride,” and
explainedthat there isagoodpride, which is“reasonableself
worth,”and there is a sinful pridewhich is “exaggeratedself
worth.”And I quoted St. ThomasAquinas saying, “there is a
goodandan evilpride…Asinful pride which God resists,anda
pridethat denotes the glory which Hebestows.”
S
o these next two weeks, beginning today, let’s
celebrate the Semiquincentennialof Americawith “good pride”
in America, because it is reasonable to do so. Especially as
Christians, as we need consider all the good thingsGodhas
bestowed onus.From the miraculousvictoryover the greatest
army intheworldin 1783, tobecoming the mostprosperous and
generous nationin the history oftheworld. AsAbrahamLincoln
once wrote: “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any
mortal handworked out these great things. Theyarethegracious
giftsof the MostHigh God.”
TRADITIONAL RITES. Did you see thisannouncement last
week:
“Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of
Arlington,has announced the establishment, beginning onJuly
Victory, as a special ministry led by priests of the Priestly
Fraternity ofSaintPeter(FSSP) toservetheneedsof those who
attend Mass and desire to receive other sacraments in the
ExtraordinaryForm…. The FSSPis a society ofapostolic lifeof
pontificalright, erected bytheHoly See and infull communion
with the Church, in contrast to the Society of Saint Pius X
(SSPX),which remains inastateof irregular communion.
“
As a Chaplaincy, ratherthan a parish, thisagreement
allows [FSSP priests]…to serveprimarily inFront Royal while
periodically assistingelsewherein the diocese.Sincethepriests
of the FSSPhave the faculty,grantedthem byadecree ofPope
Francison February11, 2022, to celebrate the Massand the
sacraments in the Extraordinary Form …this arrangement
enablesthefaithful….tobe ableto participatein the celebration
of the Massin the Extraordinary Form. Diocesanpolicyabout
such celebrations remains ineffect.Thecelebrationof Baptism,
Confirmation,andMatrimonyin the Extraordinary Formis for
those individuals/families who have a particular pastoral
connectionto the community and whoparticipate regularly in
this formof the liturgywith the consent of thelocalpastor and
thelocalordinary….
“
This arrangement doesnot affect the celebrationof
theMass intheExtraordinaryForm which continuesat three
parishes and five non-parish church locations according to
diocesan policyandthepermission of theDicasteryforDivine
WorshipandtheDisciplineof the Sacraments.”
N
ow, I’mnot sure exactly what the ramifications of
this are,anditleaves a lot ofquestionsunanswered.e.g.,canan
FSSP priest come toSt.Raymond’s to celebrate the Mass, or
baptisms orweddings inExtraordinaryForm Mass? Wewill
know soonenough, but in the meantime this is awonderful
thingfor thediocese, especiallyfor thoseof uswho love the
“TraditionalRite.”
FoolishThings OtherBishopsSay. While our Bishopwas
showing us his wisdomand love in establishing the above
chaplaincy, some other bishopswere showing us something
else.Consider:
Catholic World NewsArticle: “On the evening of
June 6th—the Vigilof the Solemnity of theMost HolyBody and
Blood of Christ—Detroit Archbishop EdwardWeisenburger
joined …Muslim dignitaries at the…inaugurationof the Imam
Al-HasanainMosque….‘There is no place where I feel more
respect, fraternity and kindness,” Weisenburger declared.
‘Fromthemoment I entered thisbeautifulsite,Ifeltaprofound
divine presence…”
Note:Ifeel sorry for the Archbishopthat hefeelsmore
respect andfraternity inamosque thanhe does in a Catholic
Church. I’malso aghast that he thinks the DivinePresence is
foundin mosques (somethingMuslimsdon’t evenbelieve.)
Catholic Herald Article:“Bishop Antonio Staglianò,
presidentof the PontificalAcademyof Theology, has described
John Lennon’s1971 song“Imagine”–whichcalls for a world
with “no heaven” and “no religion too”– as the “most
beautiful song intheworld” endorsing its visionof abolishing
anyreligion, God orheaven for which one “must killor die”in
avideoposted onMay18….
“Inthevideo, BishopStaglianò, whowasappointed to
lead the academy byPope Francis inAugust 2022, stated:
“Let’s abolishreligion, let’s abolishGod, let’s abolishheaven.
Whosays that? JohnLennon, in the mostbeautiful song inthe
world, ‘Imagine’”…”
Oremus pro invicem.Fr. DeCelles