From the Friars: Patriotism Is a Virtue

It is the filial piety one holds in one’s heart toward one’s country, as a loyal son or daughter. The Latin word for “father” is pater, and the Latin word for “country” is patria, or the “fatherland.” The United States observes Patriot Day today (September 11th), in remembrance of the men and women who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York city and the Pentagon in Virginia, and those who perished when the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

Providentially, the Church today provides us the story from Luke’s gospel commonly called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which many say would be better named the Parable of the Devoted Father. The father in the parable is the true hero of the story, and the mercy he offers his son is the point that Jesus wanted his hearers to understand in relation to his Heavenly Father. The father in the story goes beyond himself to show his unconditional love for his son, bending over backwards; breaking societal norms. The grave offenses his son had committed against him were brushed away at the first sign of repentance as if they had never existed.

G.K. Chesterton says of patriotism that we love our country because it is our country, the same way we love our family because they are our family, not because they have earned our love. Yet no human father is perfect, like no country is perfect. Everyone has some level of a father wound, either from our father’s sins or his failings. As Christians, however, we have a perfect example of true fatherhood from our Creator himself.

Virtually all other religions served gods that were capricious, bloodthirsty, and vengeful. How blessed we are to serve a God who is all-powerful and deserving of all our love, yet humbles himself to reconcile us when we have sinned. Like Moses interceding with Yahweh on behalf of the Israelites after they had worshipped a false god, Jesus reconciles us to the Father by his sacrifice on the cross, and he prepares our understanding beforehand by teaching us about the Father’s goodness and his worthiness of our filial devotion.

So let us love our fathers (indeed all of our family members) because they are family, and let us love our country because it is the one God gave us. Let us pray, as devoted sons and daughters, for all parents as well as world leaders, that they will follow the example shown us by God himself.

— Br. Felix.