Pres. Trump issued a proclamation that Sunday 3 September should be a National Day of Prayer Texas and for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent Rescue, Relief and Recovery effort.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION:
Hurricane Harvey first made landfall as a Category 4 storm near Rockport, Texas, on the evening of August 25, 2017. The storm has since devastated communities in both Texas and Louisiana, claiming many lives, inflicting countless injuries, destroying or damaging tens of thousands of homes, and causing billions of dollars in damage. The entire Nation grieves with Texas and Louisiana. We are deeply grateful for those performing acts of service, and we pray for healing and comfort for those in need.
Americans have always come to the aid of their fellow countrymen — friend helping friend, neighbor helping neighbor, and stranger helping stranger — and we vow to do so in response to Hurricane Harvey. From the beginning of our Nation, Americans have joined together in prayer during times of great need, to ask for God’s blessings and guidance.
This tradition dates to June 12, 1775, when the Continental Congress proclaimed a day of prayer following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and April 30, 1789, when President George Washington, during the Nation’s first Presidential inauguration, asked Americans to pray for God’s protection and favor.
When we look across Texas and Louisiana, we see the American spirit of service embodied by countless men and women. Brave first responders have rescued those stranded in drowning cars and rising water. Families have given food and shelter to those in need. Houses of worship have organized efforts to clean up communities and repair damaged homes. Individuals of every background are striving for the same goal — to aid and comfort people facing devastating losses. As Americans, we know that no challenge is too great for us to overcome.
As response and recovery efforts continue, and as Americans provide much needed relief to the people of Texas and Louisiana, we are reminded of Scripture’s promise that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Melania and I are grateful to everyone devoting time, effort, and resources to the ongoing response, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. We invite all Americans to join us as we continue to pray for those who have lost family members or friends, and for those who are suffering in this time of crisis.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 3, 2017, as a National Day of Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey and for our National Response and Recovery Efforts. We give thanks for the generosity and goodness of all those who have responded to the needs of their fellow Americans.
I urge Americans of all faiths and religious traditions and backgrounds to offer prayers today for all those harmed by Hurricane Harvey, including people who have lost family members or been injured, those who have lost homes or other property, and our first responders, law enforcement officers, military personnel, and medical professionals leading the response and recovery efforts.
Each of us, in our own way, may call upon our God for strength and comfort during this difficult time. I call on all Americans and houses of worship throughout the Nation to join in one voice of prayer, as we seek to uplift one another and assist those suffering from the consequences of this terrible storm.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
~ DONALD J. TRUMP
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Our prayers and support go to the people of Texas and Louisiana. This is a flood of such immense, almost apocalyptic proportions, I don’t think it is overstating it to say that at this point. May God help them and the rescuers, and there are so many. Even pets suffer, there were many pets left behind, and we gave to the Humane Society, which is using boats to go house to house rescuing pets left behind. When you see the videos or pictures, it is impossible not to give.
Our president. Can there really be any doubt about the battle we are actually fighting. We are in a temporal battle and very definitely a spiritual one. He calls for a day of prayer. I could not appreciate nor admire this man more than I do. The forces of evil are against him. He needs our prayers as well, every day.
Good for Mr Trump.
Heartfelt admiration to the President for that. Who’d a thunk just a year ago, eh? God bless him, and all of you in the U.S., particularly those in the disaster area. JK. Ireland.
I can’t imagine the secular humanist Hilary Clinton ever declaring a Day of Prayer.
Mrs. Clinton is a lifelong Methodist, not a secular humanist. Throughout her husband’s presidency, she very often attended Foundry UMC, where a friend of mine was a ministerial intern at the time. That is where I was first introduced to her.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/24/donald-trump/what-do-we-know-about-hillary-clintons-religion-lo/
The fact that Mrs. Clinton is a Methodist does not preclude that she is also a practicing secular humanist. Probably at least 70% of the practicing secular humanists in this country profess some religion, and something close to the same vice versa, that many so-called “religious” people are actually practicing secular humanists. This is because a person can imagine they “believe” in God, while actually carrying out in their daily lives, attitudes, and beliefs the real tenets of the religion that is secular humanism. People are not internally consistent. In practical terms at least half of the mainline Protestants in this country are secular humanists. This is a large core of the Democrat Party base: mainline Protestants who subsume their superficial religious belief with practical secular humanism that suffuses all of their notions about how belief in God must not be allowed to affect public policy in any way.
[Talking about Mrs. Clinton in this context is so distasteful.]
Prayers for all in the disaster area, all involved in relief and recovery, and our Commander-in-Chief.
p.s. The Naval Institute and the Marine Corps Times say that FEMA may not yet have made a formal request for East Coast ships, but Sec. Def. Mattis already told two amphibious ships and 600 Marines to load up and sail over Texas way. One ship is a helicopter carrier, and they also have small boats, large pumps, medical folks, water purification equipment, scuba gear, and combat engineers who can salvage and build more things than one can shake a stick at.
p.p.s. Also reported: the Marines are from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Their motto is “A Certain Force in an Uncertain World.” Me thinks that motto also applies to Summorum Pontificum; stalwart clergy, religious, and laity; the Rosary; and at the risk of embarrassing our host, this blog.
[OORAH! And USS KEARSARGE is carrying them an a chaplain buddy of mine to the area. We’ve seen photos of his great altar set ups and how he helped with our Triduum this year.]
PostCatholic,
I agree that Hillary is not a secular humanist–she is not a humanist.
She is a liberal Protestant. Their approach began first by reducing Christ to a Teacher of Ethics, which makes irrelevant any question of His Divinity or supernatural significance of His life. The great economic leaps in the 19th century then caused a shift: Personal ethics was replaced by participation in economic progress. The Christian Progressive was the result, people with a nominal belief in Christ (often including the existence of God) and sexual morals (incl abortion) who worked for economic progress, especially among the lower classes.
Add unbridled ambition and Hillary emerges, someone politically born in 3rd base who could not make it herself to home. During the Clinton Presidency the Roman newspapers often referred to her as Lady MacBeth.
[I think that’s enough about her.]
As the UMC (and I’m not a Methodist) is among the mainline Protestant churches that joined you in yesterday’s day of prayer, might I suggest learning a bit about what this very large church actually believe?
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/basics-of-our-faith
As for me–not a Methodist, nor am I secular, but I’m OK with being called humanist in a broad sense, but have always liked the “Wesleyan rule,” a bit of Methodist piety often misattributed to John Wesley:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
So long as you ever can.
Surely there’s nothing in that a Catholic can object to?
PostCatholic says,
As for me–not a Methodist, nor am I secular, but I’m OK with being called humanist in a broad sense, but have always liked the “Wesleyan rule,” a bit of Methodist piety often misattributed to John Wesley:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
So long as you ever can.
Surely there’s nothing in that a Catholic can object to?
It depends on what is meant by “good”. Does it include things like abortion, as many members on mailine Protestant groups think it does? Or predatory lending? St Thomas says that every evil is done under the aspect of some good.
Bonum faciundum malum vitandum. Good is to be done, evil avoided. Synderesis.
I knew you’d be up to the challenge, robtbrown.
Thank you President Trump.