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In a monarchy, the King and his ministers are responsible for the common good of the society. This is why there has historically been a huge body of literature exhorting rulers to perform their duties in the fear of God. As Psalm 2 states: "O Kings, be wise; be warned O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling kiss his feet, lest he be angry and you perish in the way."
In a democracy, this duty devolves upon everyone. Upon lawmakers and elected officials especially, but also upon every citizen who can cast a vote. Christians should take this responsibility seriously, not only because they have a stake in their country, but also because it is part of our love for and obedience to Christ. "O citizens be wise; be warned O people who cast votes. Serve the Lord with fear." This applies now to each one of us.
Here are a few parameters provided by Christ in his Church for those who are attempting to take their voting duties seriously.
1. Christians should vote.
2. Christians always keep in view the true and final end of all human activity, which is the salvation of souls for the coming everlasting Kingdom. In looking at issues and candidates, the first question to be asked is: Will this candidate or this program further the ability of people to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and so be saved, or will it hinder that Gospel? This comes before everything on a merely human level: before economics and health care and education and security. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" The answer to this question posed by Jesus is: Nothing. All other concerns, good in themselves, are useless if this condition is not present.
3. While Catholics understand that there are certain aspects of their faith that they cannot in justice expect others by law to agree to, such as attending Mass,
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they also know that there are social concerns that pertain to human dignity, and that must be fought for in the civic arena. To do this is not to "push your faith down someone else's throat." It is to insist on the rights and dignity of every person, created as we are in the image of God. In such matters one cannot be "privately in favor" and "publicly opposed." It is precisely the duty of Catholics, and Catholic politicians, to do what they can to see that the society be as just as possible in such matters.
There are many such issues of this kind that we now face. They start with the right to life from conception to natural death. This is the foundational human right upon which all others are based. They also include, among others, the protection of the family as the basic unit of the society, the preferential option for the poor and the care of the most vulnerable, and the concern for peace between nations.
4. Christians, taught as they are by Christ the Wisdom of God, will not be quick to fall prey to the often silly appeals made by politicians or their promoters. Genuine concern for the common good ought to be their motivating factor. What a person might look like, what their background may be, what sort of suit they wear, how they "feel" on camera, will not easily sway them.
5. Christians remember, in the midst of our current very nasty political culture, that all are children of God, including political opponents, and they try to refrain from slander and from vicious attack. There may be a need to state strong opposition to a publicly held position of a candidate. But Christians know that this does not give license to personal attack. The law of charity applies to all.
May Christ guide each of us as we ponder the issues and determine how we will exercise our duty and our privilege of voting. And may God bless our country.
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"FOREVER AND EVER, M&M." During a children's liturgy, the homilist wanted to show the evils of inequality. He asked only those children with blond hair to come up. As they came forward, he invited the blond-haired children to sit on the left side of the altar. Then he took out a big bag of M&Ms and poured the candies into the hands of each child. Then he invited all the other children to come forward, but he told them that they would receive no M&Ms. Then he asked the children if they noticed anything unfair about what had happened. The sermon took an unexpected turn when one of the little girls with blond hair spoke up: "This is unfair. You gave me only six M&Ms when Sheila (the girl next to her) got ten!"
CONNECTION: In our own time and place, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is played out not so much as a lack of humility before God, but as a lack of awareness of needs, hopes, and cries for help of those around us. Somehow, we are so consumed with our own six M&Ms that we never see the rest of the world who have none; we become too focused on the disappointments and slights we must endure that we fail to realize the injustice suffered by those rejected and forgotten simply because they don't have "blonde hair." God is not just "ours" - God is the Father who loves the poor, the homeless, the lost, the despairing, the addicted, the abused. Humility before God demands humility before one another, seeing them as God sees us.
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