Clergy Corner for 7-28-24
Today’s brief reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has an exhortation from the writer’s heart, right from the deepest part of his conscience, mind and will. He calls himself “prisoner for the Lord,” so we think immediately of the end of his life, when he was under house arrest in the Imperial city of Rome. But he was in and out of jail so often that we can’t be entirely certain. What we do know is that his ministry stirred up people wherever he goes, and the Romans considered him a disturber of the proper order, kind of like the pro-life demonstrators and abortion clinic prayer leaders who to this day find themselves imprisoned for their testimony.
Anyway, Paul is pouring out his heart to encourage his readers to “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We know that Satan, our adversary, loves to set humans against each other, surely in war or political division, but more commonly by just making individuals so focused on their own privilege and pleasure and power that they stop thinking about doing good for the other. Most commonly he does that in our families. That’s why so many husbands and wives divorce. That’s why we have unnatural soul-destroying phenomena like so-called same-sex marriage.
But we are called to love each other as Christ loved us. Now remember that Jesus loved us so much that He went so far as dying for us. As the people around Him were crying “me, me, me” Jesus was giving, giving, giving. Here they ask for bread, like the ancient Jews asked the prophet Elisha, and Jesus miraculously made a few loaves and two fish into a feast for five thousand men and uncounted women and children. And as Christians come together in worship, He gives us freely His own Body and Blood for our spiritual nourishment. He was the Giver of Giver, so much so that the people of the first century wanted to make Him King–the wrong kind of leader who would imitate the Emperors. That means a leader who would perpetuate dependency and keep them thinking of themselves before others. He loved us too much to be that kind of king.
Going through our mail recently, I found an envelope marked “Catholics for [Presidential candidate]” sent by a Catholic 501(c)4 organization that has endorsed that candidate. Even a casual look at the various party platforms and candidate statements, however, is enough to conclude that none of the three main candidates (Trump, Kennedy, and Who Knows?) holds positions totally consistent with even the human life issues. That mailing gave me the idea to use some sermons to encourage all, whether old enough to vote or not, to read the U.S. bishops’ statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The document is sixty-four pages long, so give yourself some reading time.
The terrifying attempted assassination in Pennsylvania threatening the attendees at a peaceful campaign event, as one homilist pointed out, highlights the fear and hatred and division that have been gripping us for too long. We all need to pray and educate ourselves as Christians who love both God and our nation, to come to a point where we can pray for all seeking office and pray for those on both sides to seek peace.
The four main principles pertaining to our voting habits are 1) Dignity of the Human Person 2) the Common Good 3) Solidarity and 4) Subsidiarity. It is helpful because it goes back over a hundred years to relevant papal documents from Quadragesimo Anno to Fratelli Tutti to show how these principles adhere to the doctrines always held by Christ in His Church. Unsurprisingly, St. John Paul II wrote on every one of these themes in his many social encyclicals. You never go wrong with his approachable style and rigorous theology.
Article 44 of the bishops says “Human life is sacred. The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.” It goes on to teach, starkly, “Direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable, at any stage or in any condition.” That means there are no exceptions for abortion, for people like me almost certainly conceived in rape, or those conceived in incest, or those who are inconveniences to someone. In the rare situations when a conception, as in ectopic pregnancies, can not be carried to term without killing the baby and mom, then surgical intervention is not only morally ok, but withholding that treatment would be morally wrong.
The bishops do not stop their treatment of human life dignity there. That’s just the one that has engendered the most debate for most of the last century. “Other direct threats to the sanctity of human life include euthanasia and assisted suicide (sometimes falsely labeled as “death with dignity”), human cloning, in vitro fertilization, and the destruction of human embryos for research.”
No, there is no candidate whose positions on these issues are completely in line with the natural law ethic or our doctrines (which are one and the same; this is not only a religious issue). So when we vote, we have to discern positions and, I think, cast our vote for the candidate who most closely guards human life at every stage, not for someone opposed to that respect, and certainly not one who wants us to use our tax dollars to pay for unjust acts.
Whatever we do in our daily life, whether it is in voting or working for others or charity work or just relaxing, we must always think of the challenge of Christ. And we must work together to image Him in our One Body, the Church. An old teacher of mine, decades ago, said that the problem with families is that when they get together, for birthdays or weddings or Christmas or any other time, they have an implied agreement to never talk about religion or politics. He told me that means the only thing they never discuss are the two most important things in life. Let’s go into this fall season and remember that. With joyful hearts and peaceful words, let’s really communicate with others like members of One Body.
