A Catholic thinking about Juneteenth

There's probably a diverse set of opinions among Catholics concerning the celebration of Juneteenth as a US Federal Holiday, especially as race has reemerged as a controversial subject in the last few years. In the discussion we seem to lose sight of the fact that American slavery was a sin that cried out to heaven for vengeance. There's only four sins that cry to heaven for God's wrath.

Defrauding a worker his wages (including chattel slavery) is exactly this, plus a lot of other evils mixed in.

For generations wealthy families owned slaves as property, took their God-given rights, and stole from them all the fruits of their labor. These are terrible sins. Sins that, unrepentant, will send a soul to hell.

Juneteenth represents the end of that chapter in the spiritual lives of many Americans. Yes, many found new ways to defraud these people what was rightfully theirs, but the bigness of their sins began to fall. And while there are many sins today that drag souls to hell, this one sin is no longer spiritually oppressing our nation.

On this Juneteenth, we should celebrate the prohibition of this type of sin and look forward to a future where other serious sins face the same end. Sins like abortion and crimes against the natural law. Glory be to Christ the King! May his laws be our laws!