The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 290: The Duties of Citizens (2025)

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

As citizens of a nation, we have certain responsibilities in accordance with God’s Law. The Catechism provides parameters for contributing to society, welcoming the foreigner, refusing obedience, and resisting oppression. Fr. Mike helps us better understand our role as co-collaborators in society within the lens of our world today. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2238-2243. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 29. We're reading paragraphs 2238 to 2243. As always, I am me. using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You can also download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. You also can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Quick as we launch into Day 290, thank you so much for all of you who have continued to pray. Man, the last couple days I think I've asked, I might be specifically have asked for more prayers. I'm not sure if I did, but I meant it. I meant to. So thank you so much for praying for me and for praying for all the people who

create this podcast. Thank you also for those who have supported us materially because we couldn't do this podcast without your support, without your prayers and without your financial support. So thank you so much. As we launched into day 290, yesterday we talked about the duties of family and the kingdom, right? So I owe more to the Lord and to the church than I do to my family. That takes precedence.

The civil authorities also have a responsibility over us. And we talked about those duties of civil authorities. yesterday. Today we have the duties of citizens. And I think this is going to be a really great opportunity of again, once again, for us to rediscover or be reminded or even just discover straight out the duties that we have as citizens as Catholic Christians living in this world in the 21st century. This is what we're responsible for. These are our duties. And so to prepare ourselves, to prepare our hearts and our minds, let us call upon the Lord and pray. We pray, Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, and the power of your Holy Spirit. I ask that you

please open our minds and open our hearts that we can more fully conform our minds to your mind, to your will. Lord God, help us not to think in the wisdom of the world, but help us think with the mind of Christ. Let us not follow the way of the world, but help us to follow the way of you. Lord God, help us to not follow the kingdom of man, but the kingdom of God. That's who we truly want to belong to. That's who we truly want to serve. You, Lord God, in your kingdom. So, Please, where we are blind, we ask that you give us a sight. Where we choose to ignore certain areas, we ask that you please wake us up. And Lord God, where we have the vision of the world, the lens of the world, we ask you to give us a biblical lens.

We ask you to give us your lens. Help us to see this world and our place in it as it truly is, as you reveal it to be. In Jesus' name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 290. We are reading paragraphs 2238 to 2243. The duties of citizens Those subject to authority

Should regard those in authority As representatives of God Who has made them stewards of his gifts As St. Paul wrote to the Romans Be subject for the Lord's sake To every human institution Live as free men Yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil

But live as servants of God Their loyal collaboration includes the right And at times the duty To voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the dignity of persons and to the good of the community. It is the duty of citizens to contribute, along with the civil authorities, to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the

order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good requires citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community. Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country. St. Paul further wrote to the Romans, pay to all of them their dues,

taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. An ancient Christian letter states, Christians reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens

and endure all things as foreigners. They obey the established laws, and their way of life surpasses the laws. So noble is the position to which God has assigned them, that they are not allowed to desert it. The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life,

godly and respectful in every way. The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood, which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrant's duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws, and to assist in carrying civic burdens. The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities when their demands

are contrary to those of an upright conscience finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. Jesus taught, render therefore to Caesar, the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are gods. In the acts of the apostles, they state, we must obey God rather than men. Gaudemetzpez further states, When citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the common good. But it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits of the natural law and the law of the

gospel. Armed resistance to oppression by political authorities is not legitimate unless all the following conditions are met. One, there is certain, grave, and prolonged violation of fundamental rights. Two, all other means of redress have been exhausted. Three, such resistance will not provoke worse disorders. Four, there is well-founded hope of success. And five, it is impossible reason to foresee any better solution, right? There we have it, paragraphs 2238 to 2243. Just so good. I mean, this is where we find ourselves. And this is one of the things I think is so helpful for us. You know, there are a lot of, there's a lot of wisdom in the world. And there are so many ideas about how do we treat each other and how do we run our own country? How do we, as I live in the United States

of America, how do I, as an American citizen, see my rights and responsibility? towards my country. And I think this is just really beautiful, really wise, really compelling, and oftentimes challenging to all of us when we realize, okay, here's the church saying, yes, this is the wisdom of the world. But what is the wisdom of Jesus Christ? What is the wisdom of the church here? And so it goes on to say paragraph 2238 begins by saying those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God who has made them stewards of his gifts. And this is remarkable because if you read Romans chapter 13, it is the Context in which St. Paul's letter to the Romans is written is not in the context of political peace. It's not in the context of everything's going the Christian's way. So, you know, you guys, we really like those who are in authority over us. Therefore, let's continue to be on their good side. Let's thank God for all the great things they do for us. That is not it at all. St. Paul, as you know, was ultimately killed by the Roman government. And so here is St. Paul writing to Christians in Rome saying, yeah, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution.

Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but live as servants of God. This is remarkable that here is Paul. This is the wisdom of scripture, right, versus the wisdom of the world. What's the wisdom of the world say? Well, if I don't like the person in charge, then then I get to just do what I want. Or even this, if the people in charge are not the wisest, are not the kindest, or not the most just, then I can just, you know, even fight against them, topple them, you know, have a regime change or some kind of coup. And yet the wisdom. of scripture where St. Paul was writing in a context where he was virtually powerless. And he's still saying, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, live as

free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but live as servants of God. This is remarkable. And so what's that mean about me? What's that mean about us right now? Well, 2239 says, let's start at the most basic. It's the duty of citizens to contribute, along with the civil authorities to the good of society. Great. So that's a just basic contribute to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, freedom. Awesome. The love and service of one's country, aka patriotism, right, follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. That it's actually right and just to love your country. That's a good thing. Why? Because we get a lot from our country. Remember the virtues of justice. Justice is giving someone

what they're due. So the first level under the virtue of justice is religion, right, giving God what we owe him. Next is parents, giving our parents what we owe them, justice. But there's also this patriotism, right, giving our country what we owe our country. So this is all under the virtue of justice. And here in 2239 says it even is along the order of charity, which is pretty remarkable. It goes on to say, submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good requires citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community. What are our roles?

Great question, Camper. I'm glad you asked because paragraph 2240 says here are some of the most basic roles that we typically have here in countries that most resemble the United States, Canada, Mexico, this whole Western world, also Europe, obviously. Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory

to, here we go, pay taxes. Number two, exercise the right to vote. And thirdly, to defend one's country. So this is morally obligatory for all of us. If we're citizens of a nation and we want to be co-collaborators, we want to live up to our duties, our responsibilities that we have, it makes it morally obligatory for us to do at least these three things. We're obliged to pay taxes. We're obliged to exercise the right to vote and obliged to defend one's country. Now, that doesn't mean, here's the thing. That doesn't mean that you can't want a better tax code. So if you think there's a better policy, that's wonderful. Work for

that policy. But the principle is we are called to contribute to the needs of all. That's part of paying taxes, right? Similarly, to exercise the right to vote. Now, I would put in the caveat, exercise of the right to vote is not simply showing up on election day and casting your ballot. I believe, and this is just, this is Father Mike now. This is not the church teaching. So just opinion alert. I believe that exercising your right to vote is not simply showing up on election day and casting your ballot. It also involves, the exercise of your right to vote also involves becoming knowledgeable, right? Becoming knowledgeable about the candidates, their positions, all the arguments. If we're going to be citizens, not subjects, right? Not just residents of our

country, but actual citizens, it means we have these duties. We have these obligations. And one of the obligations is, if I'm going to vote, I need to be an informed voter. That was my soapbox. I'll get off it right now. But I believe the exercise of the right to vote involves that, at least the very least, I should know what I'm casting a vote for. Okay, moving on. Also, the obligation to defend one's country. Those, those three, they're not the only, but they're the three that are named here in 2240. Now, moving on, 2241 is beautiful, and it talks about the fact that we're obliged to welcome the stranger. Remember, all the way back in the old covenant, what are the people of Israel called to do? They're called to care for the foreigner. They're called to care for the

sojourner. They're called to care for the stranger. They're called to welcome the stranger and care for him. This extends to us now. So 2241 says the more prosperous nations are obliged to the extent they're able to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood, which you cannot find in his country of origin, which makes sense. Why? Because this arises directly from the dignity of the human person. So every person we treat with dignity is because every person is made in God's image. Therefore, if someone is in a place where they need, need help and I'm in the position to give help, then I'm obliged to give that help. Does that make sense? And so similarly, if a nation is more prosperous and it is able to give help, then it ought to

give help. Again, it says to the extent they're able. So this doesn't mean no borders. Keep that in mind. It does not mean no borders. It does mean to the extent that a country is able, they should do what they can to welcome the foreigner. Does that make sense? It goes on to say, public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him. Makes sense. Now, the next paragraph under 2241 spells out even more clearly some of the parameters here. So political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they're responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, which makes sense. Because why? Because a nation's primary obligation is to its

citizens. So we have to keep that in mind. So for the sake of the common good for which they're responsible, Here are lawmakers, here are policymakers, all the, you know, people that we've, again, I'm speaking from a perspective of the United States, although this is the universal catechism, basically for the whole world. But here in the U.S., we have policymakers who, the people that are responsible for, the common good that they're mostly responsible for, is the common good of their own community, aka, in this case, the United States of America, or in Canada's case, Canada, or in England's case, England, wherever, you know, in Saudi Arabia's case, Saudi Arabia, okay, in China's case, China. political authorities, they are responsible for the citizens of their own country.

Therefore, they may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrant's duties toward their country of adoption. So that sense of, okay, if you're going to come here, we have wherever the country is. If you're going to come here, we have certain expectations. We're going to make certain demands on you in order to get here. That makes sense. So you have this tension, right?

The tension is we are called to welcome the foreigner. We're called to welcome the stranger to the degree that we're able. At the same time, political authorities have an obligation, primary obligation, for the people who are already living there, the residents of that country itself. Therefore, they may make restrictions. Again, the Lord's teaching to welcome the foreigner, the Lord's teaching to see in every single person the dignity of someone who's been made in God's image is real and is true. At the same time, if I'm responsible, let's make it small, let's make it really small.

if I'm responsible for my family, then what do I do? Well, I want to take care of the people who are less fortunate. I want to take care of people who are in danger. I want to take care of people who are around me who I'm able to care for. At the same time, I can't take care of others at the expense of my own family. Or if I do, there's a tradeoff there. So similarly, if a father, mother of their family are saying, yes, we want to welcome the stranger. But also we're going to have limits here. We're going to have some limits. We can't take in everybody. And those we take in, we want to make sure that if we bring them into our home, that our children are safe, right? Because our primary duty is to our children. Expand that and say, okay, governing authorities. We want to be

able to take in those who are in need of our help. At the same time, we can't take in everybody. And at the same time, those we take in, we want to make sure that they're not a danger to the citizens we're already here. Does that make sense? And so this just seems wise to me. It's all I'm saying. And I really think that it's convicting on the one end. If you're someone who's like, I'm really opposed to immigration, okay, well, keep in mind, the church is teaching us. We have to do what we can to the extent we're able when it comes to immigration. If you're someone who is like, no, no borders, the church isn't teaching that either. They're just teaching us both of these things, that we have to take care of the stranger and at the same time, we have to take care of those who are

already in the family, in this case, in the country. Does that make sense? Hopefully it does. And hopefully it makes sense to everybody, wherever you land on the spectrum, because the reality is this is not the wisdom of the world. This is the wisdom of the Lord. And now we have to pay attention to this. Now, moving on, 2242, the citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they're contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons, or the teachings of the gospel. So civil disobedience or refusing, obedience is something that you may have to exercise in your life provided that. Again, keep in mind, Romans chapter 13 talking about, yep, obey the legitimate authority. Because see in them and their role

is they're God's representatives at the same time. They are teaching something or demanding something that is contrary to the moral order, it's contrary to the fundamental rights of persons, or contrary to the gospel, then you may have to. And sometimes you must have to refuse obedience. That's a big distinction. It's a very big distinction between serving God and serving the political community. We have to realize, always, always, whatever country you're living in, I'm not an American Catholic. I'm not a Canadian Catholic. I'm not an Australian Catholic. I'm not a Brazilian Catholic. I'm not a Kenyan Catholic. I am a Catholic, and I live in the United States of America, where I'm Catholic, and I live in Ghana, or I'm Catholic, and I live in China, that we belong to the Lord first.

So we give to God, what belongs to God, and render to Caesar, what belongs to Caesar, and always we must obey God rather than men. Now, there are times when there's oppression, there's times when there's things that are incredibly unjust. When? When could we take up arms? When can there be armed resistance to political authority? Well, there is a time for that.

In fact, in the next command, what we talk about, the day after tomorrow is the Fifth Commandment, and we're going to talk about, can a Catholic go to war? And so here we have the most bulleted pointed, like the shortest description of the requirements for any kind of armed resistance to oppression by political authority. And the five bullet points here, and when it comes like, this is essentially St. Augustine's requirements for a just war, just war theory is this. Number one, there is certain grave and prolonged violation of fundamental rights. rights. So that has to be there. Secondly, also, all other means of redress have been exhausted. You've

tried everything. It's not like, I don't like this. I'm going to pick up a rock or a mulal cocktail. It's, I don't like this. I've been trying to go through the right channels. Okay. Number three, such resistance will not provoke worse disorders. I mean, sometimes that can be the case that in having some kind of arm resistance, everything else goes bad. More people die. More people end up suffering. So it doesn't provoke worse disorders. Number four, there is well-founded hope of success that's actually a requirement for just war, that you have to have some, some degree, not just some, actually, well-founded hope of success. And number five, it is impossible reasonably to foresee any better solution.

So those five requirements are actually requirements for armed resistance to be just. If they're not there, then it's not just armed resistance. Hope that makes sense. We'll talk more about that when we get deeper into the Fifth Commandment. But right now, that being said, that's what we have. our duties as citizens of our nation of what we just heard. And it's just, I think it's helpful. Now, tomorrow we'll conclude this Fourth Commandment.

We'll have some paragraphs, then we'll have some bullet points. We'll have some nuggets tomorrow. We're looking at the political community and the church. Now, how do they interact? We'll look at that tomorrow. Until then, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. Thank you.