Beginning for two weeks, up to Independence Day, the Bishops are having a Fortnight For Freedom:
We here at The American Catholic are participating in the Fortnight For Freedom with special blog posts on each day. This is the tenth of these blog posts.
Something for the weekend. God Bless America sung by the imperishable Kate Smith. This song became the rallying song for the United States during World War II. Witten by Irving Berlin in 1918 while he was serving in the Army and revised by him in 1938, it was performed by Kate Smith on her radio show in 1938 and became an immediate hit, reaching unbelievable heights of popularity during World War II. The song is a prayer to God, as the first stanza, rarely performed today, makes clear:
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.
God bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Few entertainers became so connected with one song as Kate Smith did with God Bless America. A Protestant, Kate Smith attended Mass for years prior to her conversion to Catholicism. In this Fortnight For Freedom we express our love for America and fervently beseech God to guide her.
It was good while it lasted.
I remember freedom and the feeling that will never come back. The feeling that liberty would last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lured us to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort – to death; the triumphant conviction of liberty, the heat of freedom in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grew dim, grew cold, grew small, and expired – and expired, too soon, too soon – before life itself.
Apologies to Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, English writer, “Youth”
Defend Freedom.
Repeal Hell Care.
Defeat Obama.
Fortnight For Freedom Day Ten: God Bless America!
He does, He does. We have you, Donald McClarey.
If it were possible for me to do so after three decades of being an attorney, I would be blushing Mary!
God bless Donald McClarey