Patriotism, freedom intertwine with faith

As we contemplate the Fourth of July, it is timely for us to reflect on what patriotism and freedom mean for Americans and Catholics. We have obligations to our earthly homeland even as we aspire to our heavenly homeland. 

Patriotism is a love of country, and freedom is a condition that allows people to act as they see fit, within certain legal limits. It is a healthy and necessary condition of full citizenship. Our affection for our country propels us to defend it, promote its prosperity, and bequeath it to our posterity. That love we have for our nation should be eclipsed only by our love of heaven. 

Pope Leo XIII’s 1890 encyclical, On Christians as Citizens, stated: 

Wherefore, to love both countries, that of earth below and that of heaven above, yet in such mode that the love of our heavenly surpass the love of our earthly home, and that human laws be never set above the divine law, is the essential duty of Christians, and the fountainhead, so to say, from which all other duties spring.

Our pride as Americans and our yearning for heaven exist in harmony. Being a dutiful and affectionate citizen of the United States should reflect our interior disposition to gain heaven for ourselves, our families, and our friends.

As Catholics, we also have a specific understanding of freedom. While some think freedom means acting as one likes, Catholic teaching reminds us that we have obligations as free citizens to our fellow citizens.

As Pope St. John Paul II said at Camden Yards in Baltimore in October 1995, at a Mass I attended as a boy, “Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

We exercise our freedom responsibly when we do so as recollected Catholics, illuminating our country by our love of God, and consequently enriching the lives of our fellow countrymen and women. A Catholic sense of duty compels us to live out our freedom responsibly. 

In his Farewell Address in 1796, George Washington stated:

[O]f all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.

Patriotism, freedom, and a Catholic understanding of citizenship are intertwined. Religion and morality are essential to our spiritual health and to the health of the United States. Living authentically Catholic lives gives us the ability to exercise our freedom responsibly. This in turn helps us love and strengthen the country that protects our freedom to practice our faith. 

“In God we trust” is the motto of our country. May it be the watchword of all patriots. It is a sure path to creating a healthy land and to our heavenly reward.