My name is Amy and I have rights.

Look, I have so many rights, you better just settle on back whilst I get started decreeing them to you. (Proceeds to role out a scroll with said rights)

I've got rights you don't even know about and everything you think isn't a right of mine, well, yeah it is. So there.

Quite honestly, I don't want to hear about your rights. What is more important are MY RIGHTS AND WE AREN'T LEAVING UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE EVERY SINGLE ONE! I'll only be happy when you enshrine them into law and make everyone bow before me and my rights.

Can we get someone in here that can make a t-shirt with all my rights listed on it so that everyone is aware, please? In fact, I think it is my right to have someone make me a shirt--FOR FREE.

I don't really care if you don't think my rights aren't in the Bill of Rights because it's basically out-of-date and we need to bring it up to speed. 21st century, man. Get with the times.

Every week, it seems, we are forced to endure a new group of people hollering about their rights: Women have a "right" to free birth control. Men, who believe they are women, have a "right" to compete in female sports. People have a "right" to divorce and dissolve their families. Women have a "right" to get rid of the baby growing inside them. People have a "right" to not pay their college debt. People have a "right" to force others against their consciences to do a number of things they don't want to do. Even when said thing could be easily done somewhere else. I could go on and on.

Now, before people start writing to tell me all about how important our rights are, let me say, yes, I know. I know rights are important--certain ones. I'm not suggesting or even advocating scrapping all rights. I'm fully aware that the Civil Rights Movement was necessary and good. I'm grateful for the women who worked so hard during the Suffrage Movement. I'm a fan of the Bill of Rights.  

Lately, though, it seems we have developed an obsession with rights. I believe our understanding of our rights has to be tempered with an understanding of our responsibilities. As of late, rights tend to be very focused on self.

Not enough of us are asking, "What are my responsibilities?" Why? Because responsibilities are focused outwardly and we have a tendency to think inwardly. What if we think of responsibilities in a different way? What if we think of them as gifts?

In the Bible, there are negative commandments. Negative meaning things we aren't supposed to do because if we do them the consequences are negative. Here's a shortlist to give you an idea.

"Don't set up false idols."

"Thou shall not kill."

"Thou shall not commit adultery."

Thou shall not steal, lie and covet."

God tells us these things because they guard us against bad things happening to ourselves and others. In our culture, we like to say that a thing is only really bad if it hurts someone else, but that's not true. It's bad if it hurts you, too. My dad always told me when I was growing up, "Be prepared to deal with the consequences of the choices you make." Breaking one of the "negative" commandments has serious consequences. When we strive to not break them, though, we become disciplined and we grow in strength.

The positive commandments are different. When you look at them throughout the Bible, you actually see that they are responsibilities. Just as God gives us painful trials to build discipline within us, He also gives us responsibilities to help us see our purpose.

"Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength."

"Honor your mother and father.

"Be fruitful and multiply."

"Pick up your cross and follow Me."

"Love your neighbor."

"Take care of the least of these."

"Keep holy the Sabbath."

"Spread the Gospel."

Do you see how each one of these is a responsibility for us? Each one helps us to focus outwardly by taking care of children, neighbors, parents, and those in need. These commandments help order our lives by aligning our priorities for us: God, family, neighbor. They give us purpose and help us to see how important our lives are because they are meant to do important things: Raise families, lead souls to Heaven, help those in need. They, also, show us that being responsible won't always be fun or comfortable. We will have to pick up our crosses and deal with a lot of burdens.

To be sure, bad consequences still follow shirking our responsibilities. The consequences are just less obvious. But, I ask you to note how we become selfish and lazy. We demand others to fix our problems. We blame others for our mistakes and failures. Whining about life and seeking comfort and pleasure becomes common. Worst of all, we lose our purpose. Our life becomes a never-ending quest to just get what we want and demand others be forced to do our bidding. Not all rights are like this, however. A true and good right should always make sure a person is free to find their God-given purpose. As Pope John Paul II said, "Freedom consists not in doing what we want, but in doing what we ought." A good and true right makes sure that a person has that ability.

Certain rights are important and necessary. I would be silly to suggest otherwise. Good rights, Catholic Pilgrims, will always open the door for us to fully embrace our responsibilities to God, family, country, and neighbor. A good right will never help us to live more selfishly and it should never encourage us to abandon our responsibilites.