“It is very well to sing ‘God Bless America,’ but how can He bless us if we hate?”

“Our unity must be in God or we will fall as other nations that have abandoned God have fallen and will fall. There are too many divisions and classes among us in America now; too many hates, too few deep loves; too much tolerance based on expediency and not enough tolerance grounded in charity; too much tolerance of evil, not enough intolerance for righteousness.

There can be differences in our national life without animosity, varying lights of conscience without bitterness, provided we have a really good reason for loving one another. And the only good reason for loving everyone, whomsoever he be, is because he is a creature of God, redeemed by the precious blood of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is important, for unfortunately the basis of unity among many of us is a common hate, and too often a hatred of a person rather than a hatred of wrong. We know whom we hate, but whom do we love? The most frightening symptom of this negative spirit is the number of people who will hiss in a motion picture theatre at the picture of one whom they hate. There is something that crawls on the ground that makes a noise like that, and our imitation of it is the betrayal of the profound misery of our souls.

We cannot and we must not hate any person whom God made – even though he be our enemy. But in forgetting evil we have substituted a hatred of persons. It is very well for us to sing ‘God Bless America,’ but how can He bless us, if we hate? How can He bless us unless we deserve the blessing? Our greatest enemy is not outside our shores; it is not even in our saboteurs, secret agents, and Fifth Columnists; it is in our souls – our forgetfulness of the God of Justice and Love. We are all as sheep going astray! May we return to the Good Shepherd of our souls who alone can save!”

— Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, Address on 15 December 1940

The  Anchoress has a great Sheen roundup, too!