In just a few weeks, we, the citizens of our country, will select our leaders, from president to local officials. Each of us is faced with the challenge of deciding how we will vote.
This is a prime opportunity for us to remember the duty of lay members of the Church to be involved in the political process.
In the Gospel of Matthew 22:21, when Jesus says, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God," he is showing that we have responsibilities both to God and to our society. In a sense, every Christian has dual citizenship — in our nation, and in the Kingdom of God.
The First Letter of St. Peter, chapter 2, says, “Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king or to governors… Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.”
In the Church, we often hear about serving God. But how often do we think about our Christian responsibility to serve our country? Let’s consider what is the proper Catholic attitude toward politics and government and what is not:
First, it's not blind patriotism, where we glorify our own country so much that the Kingdom of God is identified with the U.S.A. The nation is not God. The nation is under God. We are children of God before we are citizens of the state.
Second, it's not a separation of faith and politics. Politics and religion are not two completely isolated realms. Our Catholic faith teaches that all political decisions must have a moral component.
Third, our faith is not an escape from the world, where all the pure and holy believers isolate themselves in a compound somewhere, untouched by an impure society.
Instead, the proper Catholic attitude toward politics and government is active engagement. We participate, critically evaluate, challenge, and call to account. We permeate and transform the world for Christ. We bring the seed of Christian truth to bear good fruit in the social order.
One great Catholic writer in the third century wrote in his Letter to Diognetus, "What the soul is to the body, let Christians be to the world."
Our U.S. Catholic Bishops teach in the document entitled Political Responsibility, "We need more, not less public participation ... The key to a renewal of public life is reorienting politics to reflect better the search for the common good and a clear commitment to the dignity of every person."
According to our Catholic theology of stewardship, as good stewards we should accept responsibility to take good care of what has been entrusted to us, and then hand it on to the next generation better than we found it. This principle applies to our participation in matters of politics and government.
Maybe it’s time for each one of us to do a little “stewardship check.” As we approach the November elections, let's all do a brief examination of conscience regarding our own fulfillment of our responsibilities as good citizens. Here are some questions to ask ourselves: