By Timothy Brunk – June 29 2026
4 July, Independence Day in the United States of America, is the only secular observance in this nation that is also commemorated with a Mass in the Roman Missal. At a moment when love of country is itself a matter of polarization, I want to look at some of the prayer texts for Independence Day.
The second option for the Collect reads thus:
Father of all nations and ages,
we recall the day when our country
claimed its place among the family of nations;
for what has been achieved we give you thanks,
for the work that still remains we ask your help,
and as you have called us from many peoples to be one nation,
grant that, under your providence,
our country may share your blessings
with all the peoples of the earth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
The prayer strikes a balance between a sense of achievement (for which the prayer offers thanks to God as opposed to Pelagian self-congratulation) and a task that is still ahead (for which the prayer petitions God for help). Achievements are not laurels upon which to rest.
The second option for the Prayer over the Offerings also indicates work to be done, with specific reference to the establishment of peace:
Father, who have molded into one
our nation, drawn from the peoples of many lands,
grant, that as the grains of wheat become one bread
and the many grapes one cup of wine,
so we may before all others be instruments of your peace.
Through Christ our Lord.
Surely, the peace at issue here is not simply a question of domestic peace (as important as that may be). Rather, peace anywhere is to serve the interests of peace everywhere.
The first option for the Preface echoes the Collect’s balance of achievement and task:
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
He spoke to us a message of peace
and taught us to live as brothers and sisters.
His message took form in the vision of our founding fathers
as they fashioned a nation
where we might live as one.
His message lives on in our midst
as our task for today
and a promise for tomorrow.
And so, with hearts full of love,
we join the angels today and every day of our lives,
to sing your glory as we acclaim . . .
Given the fact that the founders permitted the evil of slavery, one might question whether their vision was indeed one of living as “brothers and sisters.” Setting that important point aside, however, work for peace—a requirement of the common good, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1909—remains before us.
May we take stock of our blessings and commit ourselves anew to the common good here and throughout the world.
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