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Writer's pictureChurch of St. Mark

From the Heart of the Shepherd

From the bulletin for The Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sep 29, 2024)


26th Sunday


Perhaps my internal clock is off, but I feel like we are due for a presidential election in this country? I wish there was a way to tell…


The powers of the world have never been very comfortable with handing that power over to others, much less allowing others to choose to whom that power is handed. Venezuela’s President made the news earlier this year for opting for a different election result than the one provided by the actual election. In other despotic regimes, citizens have merely been asked to applaud to show their approval for the solitary candidate (who happens to already be in power). In our more robust democracy, there are some who are nevertheless feeling chafed at the limitations of our political system: looking at the two presidential candidates we are forced to choose between, one is left asking, “Among all the eligible adults in this country, couldn’t we find better options?”


It can be a bit demoralizing. To the point that many, I am aware, don’t plan to vote at all. Or at least are seriously wondering if it is worth it. Would it not be better to abstain than to support the “system”? Is this not a case of being presented with a false dichotomy, as if a terrorist were to say to you, “Give me the launch codes or I’ll blow up the hospital!” …? Should we not refuse to cooperate with the system that obliges us to choose between nuclear fallout or the death of countless innocents? 


I’m not convinced that we are faced with that alternative, yet. But I do agree that it is hard to be enthusiastic about our political future. In the first reading this weekend, God puts “some of the spirit that was on Moses” and distributes it to each of the seventy elders, that is to say, leaders of Israel. This leaves us praying with Moses, “Would that the Lord might bestow His Spirit on them all!” Would that Spirit of God might be at work in at least one of our leaders today! This, at least, we must affirm: for Him, all things are possible!


While sadly (or, perhaps, inevitably) practicing Catholics are divided in their choice between Scylla and Charybdis this year (who cannot be equally awful…), hopefully we can agree on one thing: that our participation in the political system is desperately needed. Not just as citizens, but as Catholics. There are, of course, those who say that religion and politics should never mix. I wonder at those who think they have, ever, or could ever be separated! 


By “religion” I mean the unprovable axioms that one chooses to believe and which guide all of his actions and decisions. It’s what determines our priorities, our loves and hatreds, our ultimate goal, and our judgments. And everything else, at least insofar as we are coherent. (And when we are not, this is usually a sign that our true axioms are other than our stated beliefs!) Though fewer Americans now may go to church than ever before, it’s still the case that, in this sense, there are today as “many gods and many lords” (1 Cor 8:5) as there were in St. Paul’s time. Now they just go by queer names such as the Economy, or Reproductive Rights, or Expressive Individualism. 


Those who want to exclude “religion” from the public discourse are therefore really saying that they want to exclude certain religions. And always Christianity. And this (which is called secularism, or “this-world-ism”) goes all the way back to the Garden, all the way back to that first secular moment when Eve beheld that apple abstracted from any consideration of God’s commands. To exclude the tenets of true religion from political considerations (i.e. the temporal common good!) is simply part of Hell’s project to exile God from the world He holds in being.


That same Lord, who pours His Spirit on all His children, calls us to a prophetic role: to proclaim Christ King! True, Jesus is not on the presidential ballot this fall. We are stuck choosing the candidate that will run roughshod over His commands the least. But we Christians have always understood (and always need reminding) that our King who reigns from the Cross is not afraid of total temporal disaster. His one concern is to save through death (even death on the Cross) those who prove faithful witnesses to Him in the world. So vote, yes, and vote for Christ (that is, as He would and on His behalf), but most importantly, be not afraid or discouraged: Christ has conquered the world!




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