Saint Paul reminds us today that our primary allegiance is to the Church established by Jesus Christ. Every other allegiance—including our political affiliations—is secondary to the Truth of Jesus Christ, which has been preserved and faithfully taught by the Catholic Church for nearly 2,000 years.
Our political landscape today is ripe with tribalism. All around us, we see lines drawn between competing interest groups, each defining who is “in” and who is “out.”
Identity politics versus culture-war politics. Globalism versus Americanism. One extreme versus the other. I could go on. But beneath so many of these divisions is a political system in which competing elites seek to secure our support and, ultimately, our votes.
As Catholics, however, we are called to place our trust not in competing political ideologies, but in Christ alone.
History reminds us that placing our faith in political ideologies can ultimately lead to division and condemnation. How often do we hear people judge one another based on whether they faithfully “tow the party line”? When we cling to a political party as our source of hope, we risk allowing that allegiance to become a source of bondage and division. Faith in Jesus Christ, however, leads us toward true freedom, peace, and salvation.
We must always put faith before politics.
That does not mean withdrawing from political life. Quite the contrary. We are called to engage in politics through the lens of our Catholic faith—a faith that does not align itself exclusively with any earthly government, political party, or ideology.
We are called to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Catholic Church and to vote according to the Truth of Jesus Christ. We are called to keep the love of neighbor at the center of our political decisions, with particular concern for the most vulnerable, especially the unborn. And we are called to consider how our political participation can contribute to the mission of the Church: the sanctification of society.
In other words, we are called to work toward transforming society—not according to the brokenness of man-made governments and ideologies, but according to the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
G.K. Chesterton famously wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
That might resonate in our personal lives for some of us, but perhaps it is even more evident in our political lives and in the way we govern.
Imagine how different our society might be if our laws and institutions more fully reflected the Truth of Jesus Christ: if we consistently respected the inherent dignity of every human person; if we placed people before profit; if we pursued the common good through solidarity; if we strengthened families and communities through subsidiarity; and if we embraced our responsibility as stewards of creation.
We can become frustrated by the state of our world, but much of what we see is the natural consequence of a society that has continued to drift away from the Truth of Jesus Christ—including in its governments, institutions, and political ideologies.
As Catholics, we are called to something better.
We are called to put faith before politics. We are called to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Church. We are called to understand the moral principles at stake in the issues before us and to bring those moral principles with us into the voting booth.
As we prepare to exercise our civic responsibility on Election Day, let us remember that our ultimate hope does not rest in political parties, candidates, governments, or ideologies. Our hope rests solely in Jesus Christ.
Let us rest in the heart of the Lord knowing He remembers His covenant for ever.
Thanks be to God!
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