Election Day

Campaigning for our heavenly election day

10/31/2020

Matthew 5:1-12A When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Since we stand on the threshold of a presidential election, perhaps a little election humor will help ease some of the tension we all feel. A politician dies and upon his arrival at the pearly gates, he is told he has the choice of going to heaven or to hell, and that he will get to spend one day in each place to help him decide. Upon his visit to hell, he is greeted by some of his fellow politicians, who take him to a fancy golf club, where they spend their day golfing, drinking champagne and eating caviar. During his visit to heaven, on the other hand, he spends the day floating on clouds, playing harps and singing. When asked by St. Peter where he wants to spend eternity, the man answers: “Well, I hate to say this, but I would rather be in hell.” So, St. Peter escorts him down to the gates of hell.

When the doors open, he is shocked to see a bare, desert wasteland, where his fellow politicians are dressed in rags and they are slaving away for the devil. The politician is confused and asks the devil what happened; it was all so wonderful yesterday. The devil responds: “Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.” The moral is be careful whom you vote for. That reminds me of the truism: you campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose. The campaigning, therefore, is like the honeymoon, but the governing is like the marriage.

It seems to me very providential that three days before the presidential election on November 3, we always celebrate the feast of All Saints on November 1. That is, before we see whom we will elect as the president, we get to see whom God has elected as his Chosen People, his saints. In a sense, you might say our lives here on earth are our campaign efforts to get God to vote for us, to be among his Elect. That election by God is the one that really matters.

Our Scripture readings today give us an idea of an effective campaign strategy when the Father, Son and Holy Spirit comprise the Electoral College. Revelation 7 say the Elect are “the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” That is, the Elect stay faithful in the midst of trial and distress, and may even have to shed their blood.

In the gospel of Matthew ch. 5, Jesus delivers his Beatitudes, and teaches us the Elect are those who are “poor in spirit,” “they who mourn,” “the meek,” those “who hunger and thirst for holiness,” “the merciful,” “the clean of heart,” “the peacemakers,” and “those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” In other words, when it comes to being elected by God, the campaigning is the hard part, the prose comes first; the post-election period is when we hear the poetry, where we take our seats on thrones and rule with Jesus. When it comes to the election where God casts the only ballot, the hard part of marriage is now, and the honeymoon awaits us in heaven.

May I tell you about a few people whose election campaigns are going very well? I am not talking about Trump and Biden. On Saturday, I had the funeral of a dear friend who died after a long battle with cancer. During treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, she remained cheerful, not complaining or moaning or groaning about her illness. She was even very hospitable and hosted bible studies and Thanksgiving dinners while she was sick. I am convinced that she was elected by God.

I was surprised when a gay man asked me to be his spiritual director. I am amazed by his honesty and sincerity in his desire to grow in the spiritual life. I don’t know if I am helping him, but he has not ceased to inspire me by his life, especially through his struggles. I have some friends who are avid supporters of Catholic schools. Once a year they come to Fort Smith, take me to lunch, and make a substantial contribution to the Catholic school of my choice. They do not ask for anything in return, just the opportunity to make someone else’s future a little better with a Catholic school education. These are the kind of people Rev. 7 and Mt. 5 are talking about, the kind of candidates God would vote for in the only election that matters.

My friends, there are only a few more days before the presidential election, and already over 86 million Americans have cast their ballots. More people have voted in Texas than the total number that voted in Texas in 2016. Obviously, a lot of Americans are worried about the outcome of this election. In fact, I have received several emails and texts about priests and bishops pushing Catholics to vote a certain way so that a particular candidate wins. They are convinced that catastrophic consequences will ensue if the wrong candidate wins.

I don’t want to minimize the importance of this presidential election, or any other presidential election. Nevertheless, I do want to underscore and emphasize the far more weighty consequences of the only election that ultimately matters, namely, our election by God when we die, so that we might be numbered among his elect.

Let me leave you with some lines from C. S. Lewis’ memorable essay called “Weight of Glory.” Lewis wrote: “In the end that Face (the Face of God) which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us with either one expression or with the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised.”

Lewis continued: “I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, it is infinitely more important.” And if I might add: the reason why what God thinks of us is more important is that what he thinks of us determines if he will vote for us on election day. That is the election day we should really be worried about.

Praised be Jesus Christ!