Are We Communists?

Understanding the moral principles behind immigration

02/22/2025

Mark 8:34—9:1 Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." He also said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."

Sometimes I think that my dog Apollo would be a better disciple of Jesus Christ than I am. How’s that? Well, he is never ashamed to be seen with me, even when I go to the bathroom. I saw a funny cartoon last week. A guy walks into the bathroom and looks over to one wall, and there are movie-theater seats with his three dogs sitting there watching him. He says, “So, you guys have installed seats, now?” Dog disciples are never ashamed of their masters.

In the gospel today, Jesus invites us to be a little more “dogged” in our discipleship following him. He teaches, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with his holy angels.”

And we can immediately think of at least two examples where his disciples ditched our Lord instead of doggedly following him. In John chapter 6, Jesus gives his scandalous teaching on eating his Body and drinking his Blood, the Eucharist, and many of his disciples abandoned him, feeling ashamed of his words.

And as our Lord approaches his passion and death, even his 12 apostles are ashamed to be associated with him. Peter goes so far as to exclaim, “I know not the man.” In such moments my dog Apollo would have been a better disciple of Jesus.

Today in our highly divided culture, certain issues can make us feel ashamed of Jesus and his gospel, and make us no longer stick close to his side. If you lean to the conservative side, then immigration, social justice, care for the environment may make you want to be a closet Catholic, and hide your faith.

If you lean left and liberal, then prolife, virtue ethics, the standards of justice and law may make you cringe and embarrassed to be with Jesus. In such moments, think of your dog, and watch his unflagging faithfulness to stick by your side, no matter where you go, even to the bathroom.

I want to add this morning another element in the dialogue – perhaps the debate – about immigration that has not been emphasized adequately, and is, perhaps, the most crucial point. In seminary, I learned about a Catholic moral principle called “the universal destination of goods.”

That is, there is a sense in which the goods of the world belong to everyone before they belong to anyone in particular. I remember turning to a seminary classmate when we learned this and said, “What are we Communists or something?”

Now, clearly the right to private property is a fundamental moral and social principle. There would be chaos without private property, and hence it serves as the basis of the 7th and 10th Commandments, “Thou shalt not steal, or covet thy neighbors goods.”

But the universal destination of goods is a necessary counter-point or balance to the right to private property. Both principles are necessary, but the universal destination of goods is primary, and can sometimes trump (pun intended) the right to private property.

Here’s an example. Take a man, a husband and a father of a family, who is facing starvation, because he has no means to support his family by honest work. And this is because he lives in a third-world country.

If he were to walk by a bakery, and saw and smelled the fresh baked bread inside, it would be morally permissible for him to take the bread even without paying for it. And this is in order to keep his children alive who are on the brink of death.

That suggestion may shock you, and make you feel like saying what I did in the seminary: “What are we Communists or something?” Now I don’t believe such a scenario exists within the United States. Indeed, here in Fort Smith, different agencies provide eight free meals a day.

But that scenario is exactly what is happening at the southern border. We are not just building a wall between two different countries and cultures. We are proposing a wall of separation between two fundamental moral principles: the universal destination of goods, and the right to private property.

So, when you see or hear of Catholic bishops championing the immigrant community, they are not just being flaming liberals or leftist Communists. They are very squarely Roman Catholic. And they are being more doggedly disciples of Jesus than you or I are. And my dog Apollo would agree with their stance.

Tomorrow morning I would like to share more about the Scriptural basis of this moral principle called “the universal destination of goods.” You are going to be really excited to hear that. Or, maybe that will make you feel ashamed of being Catholic. So ya’ll come back, hear?

Praised be Jesus Christ!