[00:00] My dear brothers and sisters in Christ and my fellow Americans, we're gathered here on the anniversary, the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation with the proclamation of independence. And so it's fitting to reflect on this nation, its meaning, and the hope for its future.

[00:34] The hope for so-called MAGA restoration, stands for Make America Great Again, is in itself a futile dream and a baseless hope without first making America godly again. So I propose we reclaim MAGA as a Make America Godly Again. That's what it has to be. Any idea of greatness apart from godliness is ultimately meaningless.

[01:08] Because apart from God, ultimately there is no life, no liberty, nor any pursuit of happiness. Because apart from God, all these things are passing away. Yesterday, the Holy Father, Leo XIV, an American, received an award from the, I believe it's the Constitution Center, the American Constitution Center, which each year gives a liberty medal

[01:48] to a worthy recipient who is a champion of liberty. And in this case, they recognized Leo XIV as a champion of religious liberty. And so he had some very wise words in acceptance of this for our nation. And one of the things he commented on, which was the first thing that came to my mind, is the difference between freedom and liberty.

[02:19] Liberty in the American contemporary secular sense is something apart from freedom. And so the Pope says, "Though frequently understood as the ability to act as one would like, authentic freedom runs much deeper. It is founded upon the human person's capacity to know the truth and adhere to what is good,

[02:49] even at great cost." One of the early fathers, I didn't have time to verify the quote, but I think it was Benjamin Franklin, observed that the American ideal, this experiment enshrined in our Constitution, is a prescription for a nation that can only work if the people are good, morally good.

[03:23] And to be morally good, one has to be rooted in God, the source of goodness, the source of truth. So this American dream of democracy, a society governed by the people and for the people, is only going to work as envisioned and hoped for and as desirable if the people are a godly people. Otherwise, a society that puts man's liberty above the God of nature is going to produce

[03:58] what man is only capable of apart from God's grace, which is sin and death. There's no godless nation that has ever existed or will exist, which can do otherwise, because life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are God-given rights. And yes, they are truly inalienable from godly men, and they're truly inalienable even from the nature of man as a creation and a creature of God.

[04:34] But these rights are destined for destruction by man alienated from God. So my brothers and sisters in Christ and fellow Americans who love our country, but never apart from the God who saves, let us grasp what is at stake at this point in our history. My opinion, as a nation, we're in grave danger of collapse.

[05:06] In a world also, it seems to me, in a process of accelerating collapse, which some say is inevitable, but we as Christians, as people of faith and people of God, know that for God nothing is impossible. But man and the world need leadership. And the only kind that can save us from this runaway train of godless governance, which

[05:38] we could put the title of secular humanism as a godless government or a socialist or a communist government, the only kind of leadership that can save man from this sure destruction is a godly people. I still see and hope in the potential for a restoration of greatness, but only that

[06:16] greatness of a nation that's humble enough to acknowledge God and our duties before Him. And a nation that can recognize apart from Him, there can be no good, no peace, no prosperity. So brothers and sisters, this hope for a restoration is incumbent on us more than anyone

[06:48] in this country. Many people in this country have no faith, and certainly they will be the victims of that faithlessness unless people of faith like us stand up for the truth and preach it in charity and make America a godly nation, restore godliness. And that godliness that has a face, we know, the humanity of Jesus Christ, the Sacred Heart

[07:29] to which this country was just recently consecrated, thanks be to God, led us with our Christian faith under also the guidance and protection of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, to whom this country is consecrated as well, and patroness of our nation, to help restore that conviction that only in God is there any hope for any kind of peaceful existence on earth, and entrust

[08:05] our nation to the Prince of Peace, that we might be a godly nation again. Praised be Jesus and Mary. Amen.

[08:42] Amen.