The Land I Love

In this year 2026 as we celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the founding of our nation, it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on love of one’s country and patriotism. This is important for us to do, because, sadly, today feelings for our nation are often reduced to political ideology and allegiance to individuals. Someone who can help us get back to the love of our nation and a patriotic spirit is Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who will be beatified in a little over two months. In his many talks and reflections, he spoke positively of what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America. 
 
Bishop Sheen noted in his talk “Quo Vadis, America?” (“Where Are You Going, America?”), “Patriotism is a virtue allied to the old virtue of the Greeks and Latins called ‘Pietas.’ ‘Pietas’ meant love of God, love of neighbor, love of country. And when one goes out, all go out.” He went on to say, “(When) we no longer have love of God, we no longer have love of country.”
 
In fact, for us Catholics, the virtue of piety is the disposition to revere and worship God. It is aligned with patriotism, because to be patriotic means to have reverence for the land to which we owe gratitude for our freedom and our identity. For us as Americans, our love for our country is rooted in and springs forth from our love for God. Bishop Sheen maintained, “We are not Americans who happen to be Catholic; we are Catholics who live in the United States of America.” He argued that the best way to love one’s country is to be entirely faithful to God first, allowing spiritual virtues to naturally improve our society and culture.
 
During his lifetime, Bishop Sheen spoke powerfully against the threat of communism. He urged people to pray the Rosary daily for the conversion of Russia and to stop the spread of communism as Our Lady of Fatima asked in 1917. Today we see a resurgence of socialistic and communistic ideas in our nation. This dangerous thought replaces the unalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights with concepts of a classless society and economic equality that replaces capitalism.  This system, in effect, excludes God and the unalienable rights that come from Him. Historically, communism/socialism always ends up violating the inherent dignity of the individual human person and promotes violence toward anyone who does not agree with its teaching. The state or government replaces the family and the individual becomes subservient to the state. This is frightening prospective for our life and culture in the United States. We should follow Bishop Sheen’s admonition to ask Our Lady’s intercession that our nation may always acknowledge God and seek to live according to His laws and to value the inherent dignity each person and the God-given rights of all people from conception to natural death.  
 
In the last paragraph of his book on the Blessed Mother, The World’s First Love, Bishop Sheen wrote these words:
 
O Mary, we have exiled thy Divine Son from our lives, our councils, our education, and our families! Come with the light of the sun as the symbol of His power! … Give us rebirth in thy Divine Son, us, the poor children of the earth grown old with age!
 
We must seek to love our nation and thank God for the many ways that He has blessed it for these 250 years. We must ask God to “mend her every flaw” for perfection comes only in our heavenly home and not here on earth. We must beg Him for the wisdom to see clearly what a civilization of love looks like and not to tear down our nation and our culture following systems that exile God and His plan for our salvation. In the end, the greatest thing we can do is to pray daily for “in God we trust”. 
 
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh