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Faithful Citizenship Calls Us to Stand for Justice
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Faithful Citizenship Calls Us to Stand for JusticeAs we enter into this week celebrating the independence of our great nation, I think this introduction to the U.S. Bishops’ document “Faithful Citizenship” is a timely reflection (edited for length). As we celebrate the values and sacrifices that make our nation great, we continue to pray for the ways our nation needs to improve - especially in humane treatment of the most vulnerable among us. May we be ever more the beacon of light symbolized by the Statue of Liberty, using our God given gifts for the good of all. Have a wonderful Independence Day! - Fr. Joe
As a nation, we share many blessings and strengths, including a tradition of religious freedom and political participation. However, as a people, we face serious challenges that are both political and moral. This has always been so and as Catholics we are called to participate in public life in a manner consistent with the mission of our Lord, a mission that he has called us to share. As Pope Francis teaches,
An authentic faith ... always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it. We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters. If indeed “the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics,” the Church, “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 183)In this fight for justice, God gives us a special gift, hope, which Pope Benedict describes in Caritas in Veritate as “burst[ing] into our lives as something not due to us, something that transcends every law of justice” (no. 34). Thus we take up the task of serving the common good with joy and hope, confident that God walks with us and strengthens us on the way (Jn 3:16).... Pope Francis encourages us to meditate on
...God’s word... “As you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). The way we treat others has a transcendent dimension: “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mt 7:2). It corresponds to the mercy which God has shown us: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Lk 6:37).
What these passages make clear is the absolute priority of “going forth from ourselves toward our brothers and sisters” as one of the two great commandments.... (no. 179)
...The political realities of our nation present us with opportunities and challenges. We are a nation founded on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but the right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn children, the terminally ill, and the elderly, the most vulnerable members of the American family. We are called to be peacemakers in a nation at war. We are a country pledged to pursue “liberty and justice for all,” but we are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants in our midst.... These challenges are at the heart of public life and at the center of the pursuit of the common good. They are intertwined and inseparable.