[00:00] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, coming the day after the 250th anniversary of our nation, I think it's still large in our minds and hearts, this reflection on the meaning of America, what this nation represents, the freedom of this country and the people.

[00:40] And in that vein, I want to advocate for totalitarian government. Not a laugh, not a smile. Actually though, I am serious. I just mean it in a way very different than what we usually think of when we hear the word totalitarian, we think of the Nazis, we think of Hitler, Stalin, maybe Fidel Castro. Those forms of government which become a displacement of the right order of things.

[01:20] It's no longer God that governs reality. It's whatever the state says. So that's why they call it totalitarian, because the state becomes the total purpose of the nation, the total authority. But what I'm going to advocate for, and I think it's consistent, I wouldn't say it otherwise, with the gospel and with the full understanding of scripture. And so I'll try to make my argument and try not to make it too long.

[01:53] But in looking at the first reading, if we kind of dig in a little bit, it makes reference to the king, "Your king shall come, rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, your king shall come to you." Okay, so now we are talking about rule, governance. A king is a ruler. A just savior is he, meek and riding on an ass, okay, so we're talking about a ruler

[02:33] who is meek and humble. And we're going to hear those words again in the gospel, or we did hear them. And then it describes this king and what he will do. He shall banish the chariot of Ephraim and the horse of Jerusalem. Now whenever has a king banished his own army, it usually doesn't happen. The army is the strength by which he enforces his rule.

[03:04] But this king will banish the chariot and the horse and the warrior's bow shall be banished. And he shall proclaim peace to the nations. So now the image of this king is coming more and more into focus. He's a king for all the nations and a king of peace. He will unite everyone. His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.

[03:35] And that's where I got the idea of totalitarian, because that's total. It's not just in his little portion of the earth that he calls his kingdom. His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. It's a total reign. And his reign will be the reign of charity. And so the totalitarianism that I want to advocate for is totalitarian charity for universal

[04:06] peace, because he's the savior. And he's not just an earthly king, although he is that as well. The doctrine of the social reign of Jesus Christ, the King, is a real thing. It's not just some nice words to make us feel good about being Christians. It is the fundamental truth of our Lord Jesus's right and His dominion over all creation,

[04:38] which means all of human affairs, be they personal, religious, or political. He has a right to reign. And His reign is a reign of peace and a reign of charity. Coming back to this idea of the 250th anniversary of the United States, I reflected on that at some length in my homily yesterday.

[05:08] And I made the argument that there are many in this country who adhere to the idea, however you understand it, it's a popular slogan, "Make America great again." And my argument was that that's not going to happen until we make America godly again. And that is a big problem in our nation. So many who don't even feel to acknowledge Jesus Christ as King, but the God Himself

[05:45] even has any rights over the affairs of men. And effectively, although we don't have a clear dictator, some like to say that's not true, but in reality, we don't have a dictatorship here. We have something like a republic, and we can argue how real that is or whether it's all political theater, but that's beside the point I want to make. We don't adhere to the laws of God.

[06:19] We don't even adhere to the laws of nature anymore. And both of those are contrary to what is stated in the Declaration of Independence. We've strayed so far from the foundations, and as I pointed out, you know, the early founders of our nation, though not Christians, I don't believe they were really Christians, they called themselves deists and they were Enlightenment men, but they made reference to God, the God of nature, and that this country to succeed, the form of government that they

[06:55] established with the founding of this constitutional government, all of them acknowledge that it's only going to work if the people are virtuous and godly. So what I'm advocating for is really not a rejection, but a perfection of what they started and wanted, and I believe that it's not just political ideology, far from it. I'm talking about metaphysical reality.

[07:26] I'm talking about divine revelation and divine justice and the moral good of humanity. And under the leadership of our bishops, I give thanks to God that they led our nation in the right direction, at least those who acknowledge their authority, in consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

[08:01] So that's this idea of, you know, a totalitarian, a kingdom of charity that's totalitarian in the sense that it's not imposed, but one that experiencing the love of Christ, experiencing not just the love of our Savior, but the love of Christians that we have one for another.

[08:31] That is how they will know, right? Our Lord said they will know that you are My disciples by your love. And how do we get from this sort of fantastic, dreamy kind of idea to something closer to reality? Well, our Lord gave us another indication in what He said in today's gospel.

[09:05] "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy and My burden light." My first question was like, who is He talking to? Who is it that labors? Who is burdened? Well, it's all of us who desire His righteousness, who desire His kingdom to reign not only in

[09:49] our words and our thoughts and in our hearts, but in reality, a world of justice and peace. So He's saying to us, "Come to Me and I will give you rest." And how is He going to accomplish that in this? We have to take freely, take His yoke upon us. You know, when we talk about being yoked, it seems almost like enslavement. It seems like the opposite of what we want, freedom.

[10:19] But we're too weak to be free. This is what the founding fathers were actually saying. You know, this is a great idea. This republic is a great experiment that we're embarking upon in establishing this country, but it's only going to work. They could foresee it if the people are virtuous. And the only way we can be virtuous in this world that is absolutely contrary to God and the Holy Spirit is if we are bound to Christ and that image of the yoke, which is a farm

[10:54] implement that binds two ox together, two oxen. It works by pairing a lesser creature to a greater creature. In other words, an experienced, more powerful, mature ox is the lead and the younger ox sort of in training. The apprentice is yoked to him and learns how to pull in the right direction and to

[11:27] match his, you know, pace with that of the leading ox. And in binding ourselves to Christ and taking His yoke upon us, then He does the heavy lifting. He does, He gives the direction. He makes it possible for us to actually contribute in a meaningful way to the good. On our own, we flounder and we stop being an asset and become a burden to and a liability

[12:02] to the social good, to the common good. So this teaching of our Lord is a key to personal wisdom. If we're going to be wise, we have to put His words into practice. And if we'd like to see America be great and therefore become godly again, we have to, we have to recognize this and that meekness and humility.

[12:33] We're so far from that as a nation. And we could talk about, you know, the military actions we can talk, I mean, you know, meekness is the contrary to anger and violence. It's the tempering of those passions by a sense of righteousness and justice and charity. But it applies to everything, not just militarily, but even in our laws, you know, the laws that

[13:04] destroy the family, the laws that don't respect life, don't protect the innocence of children, permit all of this corruption. So we're far from it and we need to begin, it begins with us. So that's, that's the final thing. This yoke is what leads to our transformation. And then in our being transformed, the more we absorb and internalize the love and the

[13:37] truth of Christ, this is what I frequently argue. And I think Pope Leo would support me in this, in having accepted that Liberty Award. You know, he does reflect, I quoted a little bit of his acceptance speech yesterday. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, the US, I think it's called the Constitution Center every year awards a Liberty Medal to someone who exemplifies, you know, who is

[14:07] a champion of liberty. And they gave it to Pope Leo this year, the first American Pope. And we can sort of take from what he said yesterday and, and combine it with the message of the gospel today. Jesus teaches that true freedom is found not in throwing off every yoke, but in taking upon ourselves the yoke of truth, humility, and love.

[14:38] Holy Father applies that same principle to civic life. A nation remains truly free only when it humbly acknowledges that its rights and liberties are not self-created, but received from the Creator and ordered toward the common good. So the kingdom of Christ, this totalitarian charity that I think is desirable, meaning, you know, using that word totalitarian in my own personalized sense, which would lead

[15:10] to a world of justice and peace is something that we have to become instruments of that hoped for reality. It happens through us. "You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth," our Lord tells us. So let us avail ourselves of the strength that we get from Him and struggle for the reality that our Lord came to spread.

[15:40] "Go forth and teach all nations to be My disciples, to be baptized, to become incorporated into Him who is the true King of kings, the Lord of lords, the total ruler who yet leaves us to be free to either accept Him or reject Him. We've accepted Him. Now let us be transformed into Him, in Him and through Him, and with our personal transformation

[16:16] become agents of the social transformation that will lead to a better world. Praise be Jesus and Mary.