A Concord Pastor Comments

7/5/26

NIGHT PRAYER: 7/5

In 2020, my friend, John Hudson, pastor of Pilgrim Church in Sherborn, MA, created the video below for his congregation's prayer. I'm pleased to share it here as our Night Prayer as this holiday weekend comes to a close. (Note that our usual order of prayer is reversed this evening: the song comes first and then the prayer!)

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Oh beautiful, for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self, our country loved
And mercy more than life

America, America, may God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine

And you know when I was in school
We used to sing it something like this, listen here

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain

But now wait a minute, I'm talking about
America, sweet America
You know, God done shed his grace on thee
He crowned thy good, yes he did, in a brotherhood
From sea to shining sea

You know, I wish I had somebody to help me sing this

(America, America, God shed his grace on thee)
America, I love you America, you see
My God he done shed his grace on thee
And you oughta love him for it
Because he, he, he, he, crowned thy good
He told me he would, with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea
Oh Lord, oh Lord, I thank you Lord
(Shining sea)

..................................................................................

Protect our nation day by day

and guide us to your truth, Lord;

set our hearts to work for justice

for the poor and all in need...

Guide this independent nation, Lord,

with wisdom, strength and purpose;

keep us mindful of your law of love

and all that it demands...

Keep vigil while we sleep, Lord:

be our sentry through the night;

be the night light in our darkness,

the fulfillment of our dreams...

Give us rest, sleep and peace, Lord,

'til the the light of day breaks through

and prepare us for tomorrow's course

of sorrows, joys and grace...

Amen.

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Leo's July 4th Letter to the USA

Here's a link to Pope Leo's Independence Day message to the United States of America. As we have come to expect, his words here are wise and compelling.

Note: this is a different message than the one I posted yesterday with Leo's words upon receiving the Freedom Medal from the National Constitutional Center.

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Where's my homily? Good question!

I am in Georgetown, Colorado and I did celebrate mass yesterday at Our Lady of Lourdes - but - the pastor double-booked, leaving me AND a missionary priest for this weekend and next. Since the missionaries are fundraising - they get to preach. So, my next homily will be on July 19.

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Character

Here's the video of Doris Kearns Goodwin's interview today on Meet the Press. This is not a partisan, political polemic but rather the Independence Day reflections of an acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning presidential historian and biographer. I hope you'll watch the whole video but if you deem it too long - at least skip ahead to 08:59 for her concluding comment on character.

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Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/5

This weekend, Lord,

we celebrate our nation's birthday

and our independence

from those who would oppress us...

Independence:

a freedom declared by claiming the right

to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

calling on you, Supreme Judge of all,

to witness our righteous intentions...

But this year's 4th is shadowed, Lord,

by discord, strident and angry,

by betrayal wounding our unity,

tearing the fabric of mutual trust,

each time we default to selfish folly

and ignore your wisdom and grace...

Hear our prayer, Lord!

Give us reason to hope and cause to rejoice!

Wash away the many faults and sins

that betray our unalienable rights

to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

Restore our good will and integrity, Lord

til we learn again and earn the right

to be called a godly nation...

Make us worthy of gifts which you endow

and by which we struggle to build and be

one great nation, under God,

with sweet liberty and justice for all...

Amen.

Pray for America
by Old Crow Medicine show

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When sorrows are befallen
And shadows darken her door
When the fever spreads and a silent scourge
Outshines her golden shores
When a cry for comfort reaches forth
Like you've never heard before
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America

When the tears just keep falling
And the glory light's gone dim
And the barren ground is full of holes
We hasten to fill in
When the firmest faith is shaken fast
By a fear that's creeping in
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America

Where the peaceful hour is broken
By the pounding tumult quake
And all is torn asunder
What we thought could never break
Well, all your saints come marching
Through hell for heaven's sake
Pray for America
Our promised land

America, to thee
May God's hand outreach
Lord, have mercy on America
Oh, pray for America
God, set Your grace on thee

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7/4/26

On this 250th anniversary of the United States I've been waiting to hear some words about my homeland that might stir my heart to gratitude for all America has been for me, given me - and, I hope - will continue to be. In this video, I've found a world leader whose words have touched and blessed that place in my heart where love for my country is deeply rooted.

Yesterday (7/3), the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia awarded Pope Leo XIV its 2026 Liberty Medal.

Speaking on the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, he praised America's enduring commitment to life, liberty, human dignity, religious freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, while urging the nation to remain faithful to its founding principles.

Calling America 'the land of the free and the home of the brave,' Pope Leo emphasized that unity, justice, peace, and respect for human dignity must continue to guide the nation into its next 250 years. His speech highlighted the importance of protecting freedom of conscience, safeguarding every human life, strengthening national unity, and renewing the values that have shaped the United States since 1776.

The pope's remarks here are thoughtful, wise, challenging: his words made me proud to be Catholic and American...

(If a video doesn't appear below, click here!)

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NIGHT PRAYER: Fourth of July

Once again we're celebrating Independence Day- and that's a good thing for which I'm very grateful - but perhaps today we should also remember our DEpendencies and the many ways and many times when what we're dependent on is even more important than what we're independent from...

Keep us dependent on you, Lord,
the source of our life
and every good gift that's ours...

Keep us dependent on you,
our only reason for being...

Keep us dependent on your wisdom, Lord,
especially when our own folly and foolishness
tempt us to think

that we know more than you do...

Keep us dependent on your love for us:
   the purest, gentlest, kindest, most merciful love
       we shall ever know and have...

Keep us dependent on your word, Lord,
   the word of your truth;
keep us dependent on a truth so much greater
   than our own assumptions and delusions...

Keep us dependent on your voice, Lord,
always calling us to love with no strings attached,
calling us to forgive one another

as freely as you forgive us,
and to welcome the stranger and care for the helpless...

Keep us dependent on your grace, Lord,

your Spirit alive within us

without whom we can do nothing

and with whom we become all you made us to be...

Keep us dependent on your promise, Lord,
your pledge of life forever;

keep us faithful to your promise

   especially when we prefer
       things to people,
       ourselves to others,
       and death to life...

Keep us dependent on your generous mercy, Lord,

and generous in the mercy we have for all,

remembering we're always in debt to you

for compassion, forgiveness and pardon...

And keep us dependent on one another, Lord,
    remembering our need for our neighbors
       and our neighbors' need for us:
keep us interdependent your grateful people,
    together always dependent on you...

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Three musical selections to choose from this evening! The first is a rousing South African freedom song, the second a simple chant composed by a Jewish cantor, and the third a jazz offering from Oscar Peterson.

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Freedom Is Coming
by The Saint Olaf Choir

Circle Round for Freedom
by Linda Hirschorn

Hymn to Freedom
by Oscar Peterson

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America the Beautiful

I hope you'll take some time this weekend to enjoy this stunning arrangement of America the Beautiful by Matthew Guard and Benedict Sheehan performed here by the vocal ensemble Skylark.

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O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

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Pause for Prayer: Fourth of July

Image source

On this Fourth of July weekend so let's recall Emma Lazarus' poem inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty who extends a welcome, a haven, a refuge for the burdened and battered... How many of us are the grandchildren and great grandchildren of ancestors who wept for joy when they sailed into New York harbor and saw Lady Liberty? In the video here, Irving Berlin provides a powerful musical setting for these beautiful words... (My Pause for Prayer follows below..)

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Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Let's pause and pray...

Lord, open wide my heart
   to welcome any and all
who've been turned out,
   turned aside and turned away:
in my family, in my neighborhood
   where I work and 'round the world...

May the light of my words and deeds
   lift high a lamp of welcome
and my heart provide a home
   for the weary, heavy burdened...

Let my heart open wide for others, Lord,
   as your heart opens wide for me...

Amen.

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7/3/26

Praying on the Night Before the Fourth

It's the night before the Fourth of July:

Independence Day, our nation's birthday...

Before we don our red, white and blue

and ooh! and ahh! the fireworks glory,

before the backyard grill is lit

and the potato salad spoils,

before the cooler's filled with cold beer

- and all too quickly emptied -

before all this let's stop and remember

what the Fourth is all about...

Help us keep in our minds and our hearts, Lord:

Independence was declared unanimously!

Yes, there'd been discord and yes, division

but these were let go for something far greater:

the cause of the union, the welfare of all...

Our rights as equals number three:

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

rights declared and understood

as self-evident, unalienable,

endowed on us all

by you, Lord, our Creator...

But now in our selfish and stubborn pride:

we argue and debate the self-evident,

we deny and restrict the unalienable,

we trade our God-given liberty for

for license, profit and gain,

redefining the terms of existence,

forgetting all we have received...

Stir up in our minds and hearts, Lord,

in those who make laws and govern,

stir up those simple, self-evident truths

that long ago laid the foundation

for the beauty, the strength and the promise

of this nation we call our home...

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Tonight's music for "the night before the Fourth" is a simple variation on a familiar patriotic song. Listen for how, in the second verse, the melody gives up the pain we know when we forget the source of our life, liberty and happiness - and in the third verse, how that joy is restored!