Rector’s Reflection - July 2025

Dear friends in Christ,

This week as we celebrate our country’s Independence Day, please join me in praying a
Prayer for the Nation from our Book of Common Prayer (p. 258).

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the
earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace:
Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the
strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in
accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This prayer asks “that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will.” We know that God’s gracious will, God’s desire, is for all creation to be reconciled in divine love – for divisions of any kind to be healed so that all can live in peace, all can have enough, and all can offer their unique gifts for the common good. We are to use our liberty in ways that bring God’s desires to fruition.

That means we are to use our voices and our actions to share God’s love and God’s hope in the world. To point out what is not of God, yes, but even more so to hold up the glorious vision of God’s reign that Jesus and the prophets held up. Thinking about the fireworks we often enjoy this time of year, perhaps we can imagine that our voices and our actions are visible signs for all to see – bright flashes illuminating the shadows – of the good news that abundant life is possible, and not only that, inevitable.

Last Sunday we read from Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “for freedom Christ has set us free.” May we feel ever more liberated by Christ to follow him and work for God’s liberating reign of love on earth, so that one day, all – regardless of citizenship or any other identifier – will be equally free. 

Peace,

Pastor Kristine