One of the greatest hang-ups for Catholic Americans is understanding the interplay between what it means to be American and what it means to be Catholic. I suppose this means that we have a problem figuring out what it means to be Catholic Americans. From the time that we are children, we all learn that America is the best country in the world and that freedom is the quintessential character of our citizenship. Imbibing this doctrine and bringing it into the arena of faith however, has its cost, since true freedom can only be found in being a follower of Christ. We can never take for granted that our citizenship in heaven is the only one that endures.
Extending from citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is the call to holiness. It recalls that although we render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, we must also render to God what is his. As such, we are called to strive daily to open our hearts and minds to the love of God and give Him everything since there is nothing which does not already belong to Him.
This openness isn’t simply a feeling or a superficial sentiment directed toward God. Rather, it is the continual decision to encounter God wherever we find Him. This disposition of openness is fundamentally opposed to any notion of entitlement, no matter how closely it approximates the understanding of American freedom.
Since every Catholic is called to love God, to follow his commandments and to love his neighbor, it is required that a proper notion of freedom be embraced. The freedom that reverses the effects of the Fall and ushers in the Kingdom of God is not found in a political notion of freedom. Instead, the freedom of the children of God is found in an open disposition to God’s love and is unfurled when extended to others.
Every discerner must be cautioned against falling into the trap of understanding freedom as a sort of exercise of rights. Freedom isn’t found in rights endowed by the Creator. It is found in loving Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2012 by North Texas Catholic