July 4 is Independence Day. It is also the feast day of one of the most popular Catholic saints, Pier Giorgio Frassati. The United States declared its liberty from Britain on this day in 1776. Pier Giorgio entered eternal life on this date in 1925. As Providence will have it, there is much to connect these two celebrations and much that Americans can learn about true freedom from this holy witness.

Understanding the concept of authentic freedom and true liberty is essential on July 4. First, it is important to define what true freedom is not. Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want. This is the notion of unhindered liberty. This belief grounds much of contemporary American reasoning. “No one should be able to tell me what to do,” many claim. “Because America is built on freedom.”

This is contradictory to the mindset of Pier Giorgio Frassati.

It’s not what America was built on either. The Declaration of Independence makes no sense without God and without truth. Those who signed it were mostly men of deep faith and conviction in the fact that God created us with unalienable rights. These rights are intrinsically Catholic. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are fundamental Christian principles.

The core of these three tenets is liberty. Frassati knew that giving over one’s desires to God was the true way to becoming holy. He said, “We must sacrifice everything for everything: our ambitions, indeed our entire selves, for the cause of the Faith.”

In this one life that we have, if we desire to obtain happiness, we must give over our entire selves to God. This alone is what makes us holy. This alone allows us to love in a way that conforms us to Christ.

For Frassati, “Nothing is more beautiful than love.” He continues, “Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity; if anything, I think it will be even more alive in the next life!”

It is clear from the words and witness of this great saint that sacrifice must influence the use of one’s freedom, and that love must ground us in sacrifice. This is also the American dream. Many generations of parents have given it their all so that their children could have a better future.

When we act in such a way, we place our aim on the world to come rather than tie ourselves to the fleeting nature of this current world. For this reason, Pier Giorgio said, “True happiness does not consist in the pleasures of this world, or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we only have if we are pure of heart and mind.”

Freedom for just myself leads to seclusion and disappointment. Sacrificial love brings lasting joy because it makes us like God. There is nothing more important than this pursuit of holiness. That is what Pier Giorgio lived.

Since nothing is more important than one’s relationship with God, Frassati said, “To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to ‘get along’; we must never just ‘get along.’”

As we celebrate the great gift of our country and the great gift of this great saint, may we be inspired to defend the notion of true freedom and sacrificial love that will ultimately convert us into the saints that God wants us to be — men and women who set the world on fire.