There is a duty, as a human being, to love one’s mother and, likewise, to love one’s motherland. This is all the more true for the Catholic, who sees in both a real gift from the eternal God. Yet, like every rightly ordered affection, patriotism must prompt real action. If it never rises above stirring sentiment, then it is not genuine affection at all, much less genuine love.
Sometimes our affections fail to produce action because they are directed towards the wrong object. The Lord commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves; one might add that this includes loving our neighbourhood. Although patriotism is not indifferent to geopolitics or national affairs, it does not begin with them. Local responsibility does not excuse national indifference; rather, it trains us in the habits of attention, sacrifice and stewardship without which national patriotism becomes merely rhetorical. Love of one’s homeland begins in the home and radiates outwards, one level at a time. As Catholics, we honour God’s gifts by caring for them and passing them on as faithfully as we can. We must learn to love where we live.
