"I Tremble For My Country When I Reflect That God Is Just . . ."

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever . . .”  - Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781.

    Among the most wonderful of the many graces God has bestowed on me in this lifetime is the privilege of fatherhood.  In just a few short years I’ve seen my children go from the enchanting helplessness of infancy to robust young man and womanhood.  I’m always a step (or two, or three) behind the curve, it seems: I constantly find myself surprised not only by how big they are, but by how they’ve grown on the inside.

    Which brings me to the topic of this post.  My son John, now sixteen years old (just short of seventeen) has developed a number of interests: movie-making, writing, science, apologetics, Thomistic Philosophy (he likes to peruse some volumes of the Summa Theologica we picked up at a library book sale), and current events.  Given the decline of morals and the decay of social institutions all around us, he recently found himself, like Jefferson, trembling for his country in the face of God’s justice, and decided, as the proverb says, that it’s “better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.”  

    In John’s case, that light is a prayer candle: given that so many of our problems are rooted in the decline of faith, he is urging as many people as possible to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the sake of our country.  We live in the United States, but we encourage those of you living in other parts of the world to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for your own country as well, because we are all experiencing many of the same things, and we are all subject to God’s justice. My Son has set up a web page HERE explaining his idea, and I have agreed to help him spread the word.  Please take the time to look at John’s page, and join us in this prayer campaign.  

    Thank you, and God Bless.