154.7月25日熱愛國家－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

God takes into consideration our social nature, “At a purely natural level the individual is in no way isolated from life in community. Every human being is born into a family, and we absorb from our surroundings all the culture and traditions that make for spiritual growth and perfection.”

天主考慮到我們的社會本性，「在純粹本性的層面上，個人絕不能與社區生活隔離。每個人都出生在一個家庭中，我們從周圍環境中，吸收一切的文化和傳統，其有助於精神成長和完美。」

We owe a great deal, therefore, to society, and in particular to our country, and we are naturally obliged to be grateful; we ought to love our country and hold it in high regard. But for a Christian, this patriotism must be animated by charity.

因此，我們對社會，特別是對我們的國家，負有重大的責任，我們自然有義務心存感激。我們應該熱愛我們的國家，並高度地重視它。但是對於一位基督徒來說，這種愛國主義必須藉由愛德來激發。

On the other hand, “Nationalism is a sin. It is a lack of justice towards other nations. And what about patriotism, the love for one’s country? That is a virtue, a Christian virtue, and I bless it with both hands. It is important to distinguish well between the two. In order to save a soul, I would be willing to take any nationality whatever, and yet I won’t allow anyone to claim they love my country more than I do. Can you see the difference between love of one’s country, which is a noble sentiment, and nationalism? Nationalism is displeasing in the eyes of God because it makes us sin against our duties towards other nations. It is the height of folly, and always ends up doing harm to the Church.” St Josemaría

另一方面，「民族主義是一種罪惡，這是缺乏對其他國家的正義。那麼愛國主義，對國家的熱愛呢？這是一種美德，一種基督徒的美德，我用雙手來祝福它。重要的是，要如何區分這兩者。為了拯救一個靈魂，我願意接受任何國籍，但是我不會允許任何人，聲稱他們比我更愛自己的國家。你能看出對自己國家的熱愛，這是一種高尚的情操，以及與民族主義之間的區別嗎？民族主義在天主眼中是不被悅納的，因為它使我們違背了，對其他國家的責任。這是高度的愚蠢，最終總是對教會造成傷害。」(聖施禮華)

The Church therefore teaches that “citizens must cultivate a generous and loyal spirit of patriotism, but without being narrow-minded. This means that they will always direct their attention to the good of the whole human family, united by the different ties which bind together races, people and nations.”

因此，教會教導我們：「公民必須培養慷慨與忠誠的愛國精神，但是不能心胸狹隘。這意味著他們將始終將他們的注意力，導向整個人類大家庭的利益，藉由將種族、人民和國家聯繫在一起的不同關係，因此團結在一起。」

The Second Vatican Council teaches: “In loyalty to their country and in faithful fulfilment of their civic obligations, Catholics should feel themselves obliged to promote the true common good. Thus, they should make the weight of their opinion felt in order that the civil authority may act with justice and that legislation may conform to moral precepts and the common good.” In contrast, it would be unreasonable to expect everybody to get professionally involved in politics …

梵蒂岡第二屆大公會議教導說：「在愛國及對公民職責的盡忠上，公教信徒要自覺到，有推進真正公共福利的責任，他們也要使自己的意見真有分量，使得公民權利得到正常的行使，使法律合乎倫理原則及公益的要求。」(《教友傳教》法令，14)相比之下，期望每個人都專業地參與政治，是不合理的……

It continues: “the Church, by reason of her role and competence, is not identified in any way with the political community nor bound to any political system.” We cannot assume that everyone should adopt the same political stance. Such an attitude would diminish the freedom we all have as human beings.

它繼續說：「教會，由於其角色和能力，與政治共同體沒有任何同等，也不受任何政治制度的約束。」我們不能假設每個人，都應該擁有相同的政治立場，這種態度會削弱我們作為人類，所擁有的自由。

This love for freedom, so much a part also of the spirit of Opus Dei, brings with it the duty to help people respect the opinions of others in all those political and professional matters which the Church has left to their free choice. The Church teaches that Christians “must recognize the legitimacy of different opinions with regard to temporal solutions, and respect citizens, who, even as a group, defend their points of view by honest methods.”

Our Lady appearing to St James, on a pillar, in Saragossa

這種對自由的熱愛，也是主業團精神的一部分，它有責任幫助人們瞭解，教會讓他們自由地選擇，在所有政治和專業事務上，尊重他人的意見。教會教導基督徒「必須承認不同的意見，在世俗解決方案的合法性，並尊重公民，即使作為一個團體，也以誠實的方法，來捍衛自己的觀點。」

聖母在薩拉高沙，站在柱子上，顯現給聖雅各伯。