In his capacity as a national board member for the Log Cabin Republicans, José was invited to deliver the invocation at the 2023 Spirit of Lincoln Gala in the Air Force One Pavilion at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Since getting started in the 1970s, the Log Cabin Republicans have been fighting for a stronger, more inclusive Republican Party and for freedom and fairness for all Americans.
In a speech in 1984, President Ronald Reagan said, “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
It is an honor to give tonight’s invocation and to beseech God to bless our mission and our work. What Log Cabin Republicans are doing is indeed hard work.
Some people who oppose us believe we have a hard message. Some think it’s a scary message. It may cost you friends. It may cost you a boyfriend. It may cost you a promotion, or your entire job.
So why are we doing this? First and foremost, because it’s worth doing. And we’re in this together, and with God’s help, there’s victory ahead. So let’s please come before the Lord.
We start tonight’s program, Lord, by asking that You give our leaders strength, courage, and wisdom in making decisions to manage the crisis in the Middle East, to protect the people of Israel and provide them comfort, and for repentance for those responsible for the terror.
We ask for Your blessings over the innocent in Israel and Gaza, particularly for those who have lost loved ones and for the hostages. We pray that You would accompany the troops into battle, that You fight alongside them, that You protect them from all harm. That You miraculously bring all the captives home without our needing to release murderers and terrorists in order for that to happen. We simply ask that you bless Israel, O Lord.
As we begin our meal, we ask, Lord, that You place within the nations of the world an understanding heart and spirit for the mission of equality the Log Cabin Republicans collectively pursue.
We’re here in this glorious venue to promote fairness, freedom, and equity for all Americans and our LGB community worldwide. We’re grateful that Jesus changes history, cultures, and mores through love.
We give You the glory for your promise in Genesis 1:27 that God created man in His own image. In the image and likeness of God, He created them, male and female He created them.
As we think about the promise that we are created in Your image, give us patience as we seek to make things different and even boldly transform transform history. Let us not proceed in anger, but rather press on with conviction, in the knowledge that Your grace will abide.
And we thank You for the blessings this Thanksgiving season and for Your continued grace on our party and our country, the awesome United States of America. We ask all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And everyone said Amen.