July 25 Tue
God takes into consideration our social nature, “At a purely natural level the individual is in no way isolated from life in community. Every human being is born into a family, and we absorb from our surroundings all the culture and traditions that make for spiritual growth and perfection.”
We owe a great deal, therefore, to society, and in particular to our country, and we are naturally obliged to be grateful; we ought to love our country and hold it in high regard. But for a Christian, this patriotism must be animated by charity.
On the other hand, “Nationalism is a sin. It is a lack of justice towards other nations. And what about patriotism, the love for one's country? That is a virtue, a Christian virtue, and I bless it with both hands. It is important to distinguish well between the two. In order to save a soul, I would be willing to take any nationality whatever, and yet I won't allow anyone to claim they love my country more than I do. Can you see the difference between love of one's country, which is a noble sentiment, and nationalism? Nationalism is displeasing in the eyes of God because it makes us sin against our duties towards other nations. It is the height of folly, and always ends up doing harm to the Church.” St Josemaría
The Church therefore teaches that “citizens must cultivate a generous and loyal spirit of patriotism, but without being narrow-minded. This means that they will always direct their attention to the good of the whole human family, united by the different ties which bind together races, people and nations.”
The Second Vatican Council teaches: “In loyalty to their country and in faithful fulfillment of their civic obligations, Catholics should feel themselves obliged to promote the true common good. Thus, they should make the weight of their opinion felt in order that the civil authority may act with justice and that legislation may conform to moral precepts and the common good.” In contrast, it would be unreasonable to expect everybody to get professionally involved in politics ...
It continues: “the Church, by reason of her role and competence, is not identified in any way with the political community nor bound to any political system.” We cannot assume that everyone should adopt the same political stance. Such an attitude would diminish the freedom we all have as human beings.
This love for freedom, so much a part also of the spirit of Opus Dei, brings with it the duty to help people respect the opinions of others in all those political and professional matters which the Church has left to their free choice. The Church teaches that Christians “must recognize the legitimacy of different opinions with regard to temporal solutions, and respect citizens, who, even as a group, defend their points of view by honest methods.”
Our Lady appearing to St James, on a pillar, in Saragossa