The Art of the Possible

Discerning how to vote with a Catholic conscience

09/06/2020

I am going to do something I have never done before. I am going to deliver a series of homilies for the next 8 Sundays to address important issues before the general presidential election on November 3rd. The fastest way to lose friends and make enemies is to talk politics from the pulpit. I am about to talk about religion and politics in polite company, and you might not feel very polite after you hear what I have to say. Of course, I am not going to talk partisan politics – advocating one party over another – but rather I hope to present the high ideal of politics, once beautifully described as “the art of the possible.” That is, people working together, and even compromising at times, in order to promote the common good, and thereby achieve a higher common happiness.

Since I am a Catholic priest and I am speaking to a Catholic congregation, I will present these important issues in the light of Catholic faith. For instance, when our Catholic faith shines on issues of abortion, marriage, racism, immigration, etc., how do we see them differently? I would suggest to you that we see these issues as they really are because it is the light of Christ that illuminates them, and reveals what is true and false in them. The Second Vatican Council taught: “Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light…Christ…fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et spes, 22). Just like we see everything most clearly when we bring it out under the bright light of the noonday sun, so Jesus, the Son of God, illuminates what is obscure and opaque in social, moral and political issues.

I am going to rely heavily, but not exclusively, on the U.S. bishops’ statement on political responsibility called “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” It was originally published in November, 2015 (prior to the last election), and republished with a new introductory letter in November 2019 (prior to this election). Here are the eight topics I will present and on which weekends (so you can plan accordingly): today (Sept. 6) I will address abortion and prolife, which seems the most fundamental of all issues. On Sept. 13 I will touch on racism that is riveting our country and the ripple effect it causes. On Sept. 20, I intend to broach the topic of marriage and family, with special attention to the care for persons in the LGBTQ community. On Sept. 27 I hope to address immigration and welcoming the stranger, especially the beautiful people from India!

On Oct. 4, I will discuss the environment and living together on this plant, our “common home” as Pope Francis says. How providential that October 4 is the feast of St. Francis, who called the sun his “brother” and the moon his “sister.” That is how close we should feel to creation. On Oct. 11, I will try to deal with the basic right to health care, because we really cannot live without it (pun intended). On Oct. 18, I will address global solidarity and our need to participate in the destiny of the world, rather than sit on the sidelines as spectators. Jesus warned: “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Lk. 12:48), and we Americans have been given a lot. Last but not least, on Oct. 25, I would like to share what the bishops have to say about religious liberty and Catholic education, especially how valuable our Catholic schools are.

I strongly recommend you read the U.S. bishops’ entire document on “Faithful Citizenship.” But here are a few of the points they made regarding abortion and being prolife. They wrote in the Introductory Letter: “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place in the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.” A little later the bishops emphasize why this issue is “preeminent” and stands head and shoulders above other issues: “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed” (Faithful Citizenship, 28). In other words, the right to life is not “equal” to other rights: it is the bedrock and foundation of a just society. If you are dead, what good are any other rights?

However, the bishops were careful not to conclude that you must always support a politician or policy who adopts an “all or nothing” attitude regarding abortion. Sometimes incremental change – little by little – is more successful. The bishops quote St. John Paul II’s prudential advice: “When a government official who fully supports abortion cannot succeed in completely overturning a pro-abortion law, he or she may work to improve protection for unborn life, ‘limiting the harm done by such a law,’ and lessening its negative impact as much as possible (Evangelium vitae, 73).” Thus, the bishops concluded: “Such incremental improvements in the law are acceptable as steps toward the full restoration of justice” (FC, 32). That is, sometimes you have to take “baby steps” to help babies take their first steps.

The bishops also expanded their prolife stance to go beyond abortion alone. They insist: “Cloning and destruction of human embryos are always wrong. The purposeful taking of human life by assisted suicide and euthanasia is not an act of mercy, but an unjustifiable assault on human life. Genocide, torture, and the direct and intentional targeting of noncombatants in war or terrorist attacks are always wrong” (FC, 64). When we intentional take an innocent human life, therefore, we try to step into God’s shoes and decide who lives and who dies. And whenever we have “played God” in the past, disaster has struck.

And lest the bishops be accused of callously forgetting the desperate mothers who sadly choose abortion, they add: “We promote a culture of life by supporting laws and programs that encourage childbirth and adoption over abortion and by addressing poverty, providing healthcare, and offering other assistance to pregnant women, children and families (FC, 65). When I was in high school, I volunteered at Abba House in Little Rock, a home for unwed mothers run by Mother Teresa’s nuns. We tutored the children after school and helped with chores around Abba House. In other words, we build a culture of life, not only by voting for prolife candidates, but also by helping those around us to choose life. And if for some serious reason we cannot do the first, then we must do the second.

If you were waiting for this homily to tell you who to vote for, I’m happy to disappoint you. The purpose of this homily, taking a page from the U.S. bishops, is to shape and form YOUR conscience so YOU can better decide whom to vote for. But don’t decide who to vote for yet, there are still seven more homilies you need to hear! I know it’s not easy to discern and to read, to pray and to ponder, before making your decision. It’s a lot easier to let someone else do our thinking for us and tell us who to vote for. Henry Ford famously said: “Thinking is hard work, that’s why so few people do it.” We want someone to make elections easy, but they aren’t. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to carry his cross, and it should not be easy for us to carry ours. If casting your vote in November doesn’t feel hard like carrying your cross, then you’re probably not doing it right.

Praised be Jesus Christ!