THOU SHALT LOVE THY COUNTRY

                                             THOU SHALT LOVE THY COUNTRY

            The obligation to love one’s country is the result of Jesus’ command to love one’s neighbor as oneself.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.  The love and service of one’s country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity.  Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community” (#2239).  A “duty of gratitude.”  Everyone is born into a language, a culture, and an environment, including geography, that affects their tastes and way of looking at things.  These influences help a person to develop a sense of identity.  Without this inheritance a person tends to feel lost.  No one is born into a perfect country, just like no one is born into a perfect family.  With all its imperfections, we love and are grateful for our family; so we should love and be grateful for our country.

 

In Memory and Identity, a memoir published shortly before his death, Pope St. John Paul II wrote that patriotism “is a love for everything to do with our native land: its history, its tradition, its language, its natural features. It is a love which also extends to the works of our compatriots and the fruits of their genius. Every danger that threatens the overall good of our native land becomes an occasion to demonstrate this love.”  Just as we have a natural love for family members, we have a natural love for our nation.  This love leads us to strive towards the establishment of a more just and righteous society, where the human rights of every person are protected, and the basic needs of people are provided for.  The Catechism teaches that sometimes love and service of country needs to be expressed in “just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the dignity of persons and to the good of the community.”  But for all its faults, we should not be reluctant to celebrate the great accomplishments of our nation. 

 

We are obligated as citizens to do our part in advancing the common good.  Our faith gives us an even greater motivation since the Master told us to love one another and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  The magisterium of the Church teaches us that we should therefore be ready to submit to legitimate authorities, to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend our country. Love of country should move us to elect officials and support leaders in industry, entertainment and the media who respect the fundamental rights of every human person, with a particular concern for integral families, the poor, the unborn, the elderly and the handicapped.  Of course, authentic love of country will always reject xenophobic nationalism.  As the Pope wrote in Memory and Identity, “Whereas nationalism involves recognizing and pursuing the good of one’s own nation alone, without regard for the rights of others, patriotism, on the other hand, is a love of one’s native land that accords rights to all other nations equal to those claimed for one’s own. Patriotism, in other words, leads to a properly ordered social love.”

 

  A proper love of country takes pride in the accomplishments of its history, culture, and political organization.  It also laments the failures that are part of that history.  I believe that if we are to contribute to the common good and act justly, we must not focus exclusively on the positive or the negative.  Love can only be built on truth.  Without hiding her flaws, we must teach the coming generation to love America.  Then they will be willing, as generations before them have been willing, to sacrifice personal interest for the general good.  If love for country becomes absent, the citizenry will become ever more hedonistic and lawless.  Only a well-grounded patriotism will move the population to strive towards making the United States a more perfect union.  As we celebrate Independence Day, let us pray for America the Beautiful, and ask God to crown her good with brotherhood, to mend her every flaw, to confirm her soul in self-control, and her liberty in law.  Amen!