Church & State

The November elections are fast approaching. I hope all of us are doing our level best to scrutinize the positions of candidates on issues important and sacred to us as Catholics and followers of Jesus Christ. Elections matter. Who we elect determines the direction of our nation, state, and local communities.

We believe we hold the earth in trust as stewards of all God has given us and that we our brother's and our sister's keeper. Therefore our point of view on issues like abortion, euthanasia, justice for the oppressed, capital punishment, immigration reform, consumerism, the environment and more must be advanced. We do not believe we can set aside our vision as if God's influence over us only applies to when we are in church or the privacy of our homes. As a matter of fact, Catholic Social Teachings have emphasized that it is not only our right as citizens to make our voice heard, but it is our responsibility to speak out in the public arena. In Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. Every believer is called to faithful citizenship, to become an informed, active and responsible participant in the political process.

Probably, like me, you are sometimes in a quandary because there are no candidates whose vision fully matches ours as Christians. We have to make judicious decisions hoping to accomplish the most good given the limitations of the candidates from whom we have to choose. At a minimum, we need to be well enough informed about the candidates so that we are not electing people whose point of view undermines all we hold sacred about life, justice and the common good.

Let us pray for the wisdom to make the best choices. Let us pray for the courage to stand for the truth of the Gospel. Let us pray for our nation, state and local communities that the rights of all, including the most vulnerable, be respected and protected by our government bodies.

Fr. John Klein, Pastor