My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are eleven (11) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2254.
When considering the “fundamental rights of the human person” the Founding Fathers of the United States of America anticipated the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) by some two hundred-sixteen years. In 1776 the Founders wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” That the Founders invoked the “Creator” as the origin and source of our “unalienable” or “fundamental” rights is not insignificant. King George III (+1820) did not respect the fundamental rights of the human person, nor the conditions required to exercise authentic liberty. Sadly, the last hundred years provide many other examples which could be brought forward exemplifying abuse of public authority (think of Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Pinochet to name a few…).
As disciples and followers of Jesus Christ in His Holy Catholic Church we know the Creator God to be a Trinity of Persons. There is only one God, one Creator of all that is seen and unseen. The Church’s pro-family, pro-life stance comes naturally from the Lord and giver of life. Without the right to life there is no liberty nor any pursuit of happiness. The family is the natural place where children are conceived, born, nurtured and raised. While Christ Jesus has set us free from sin and death, we are not to abuse our freedom and return to sinful lives (cf. Galatians 6:1). Liberty is not license. We know from Sacred Scripture that Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth and the life” and that “the truth will set us free” (cf. John 8:32; 14:6).
With atheistic communism still bellowing, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) picked up the theme of religious liberty in their Declarations Nostra Aetate (28 October, 1965) and Dignitatis Humanae (7 December, 1965). As Catholics we believe that “no theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned” is to be accepted, encouraged or adopted (NA, 5). Further, Mother Church teaches that “Injury is done to the human person and to the very order established by God for human life, if the free exercise of religion is denied in society, provided just public order is observed” (DH, 3). These teachings, are part and parcel of the Fourth Commandment which concerns not only the nuclear family (mommy, daddy, babies) but also the family of society. While the Berlin Wall fell and with it communism in Europe, contemporary secularism is no less foreboding and in need of these saving doctrines.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr