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November 15, 2020When I was a new high school graduate, I became very angry at our country. Her corrupt nature, the political upheaval, and the culture of death made it very hard for me to love our country or be grateful for the life I had been given. We claimed religious freedom and yet religious organizations were being forced to provide birth control. We claimed freedom of speech and yet people were cast down as “haters” and bigots if they supported the teachings of the Catholic Church. I became one of those people who joked about moving away to Canada to forever leave our Nation behind.
And yet, life isn’t that simple. How can our nation ever improve if you and I aren’t here to fight for it? As one of my favorite quotes from Lord of the Rings states, “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
In 2016, I went to World Youth Day in Poland and began to fall in love with Saint John Paul II. He was known for a great love of his country. I thought this was easy for him, what’s not to love about Poland? And yet, as we dive into the history of Poland during his lifetime, there was religious persecution, communism, war, concentration camps, and yet he stayed loyal to his beloved Poland. Why? Because he knew that his country was more than the bad things that happened to it, but the people and culture of his people went much deeper.
As I walked through the childhood home of Pope John Paul II, it was flooded with quotes that lined the wall. One in particular stuck out to me. In it he compared our duty to care for our country in alignment with the fourth commandment, honor thy father and thy mother. In another quote he says “I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment.” It dawned on me in that moment that I needed to care for my country in a way that I had previously let her down.
In this election year, many dislikable parts of our country have again been brought into the spotlight. I found myself doubting the wise words of JP2 and began to pray to him. “How” I asked him” am I supposed to love my country that seems so unlovable?” I heard very clearly in my soul these words, “Because love has nothing to do with being lovable.”
In truth, there is so much our country has to offer. We are so blessed to live in a country that does not kill us for our religious beliefs, even if we are put down for them. We stand out as a land of opportunity, and this is why so many immigrants desire to come into our borders. We are a land of so many different cultures to love and celebrate. We are the United States of America, and even though she is far from perfect, she is our mother country. She has cared for me throughout my life whether I acknowledged it or not. She needs me right now, to pray for her, to pray for an end to the culture of death. Who am I, a child, to abandon my parent in her time of need? Now is the time to be patriotic. Now is the time to love. No matter what happens, now is the time to stand by her, to be a witness to all Americans, and state, “I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America…”