port are an extension of our values. The church cannot and must not tell a citizen how to vote. The church can say “As citizens we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths…” (Faithful Citizenship,” USCCB, #14) Every Catholic has a moral duty to honestly critique the policies of the person they vote for and the positions of the party they identify with. “Evil is never defeated by evil,” writes John Paul II. “Once that road is taken, rather than defeating evil, one will in-stead be defeated by evil” (2005 World Day of Peace.) If I vote for a person who supports the death penalty, or an unjust war, or someone who is racist, who demonizes the immigrant and the poor, who doesn’t care for the envi-ronment or the child in the womb, and I don’t stand against this, is not my silence a form of complicity which per-petuates violence, undermines human dignity, and mocks the teachings of Jesus? Some argue that all politicians are liars, that all politicians are corrupt. True enough, we’re all sinners—and at some level, this can be said about each of us. It comes down to a question of degree. By our baptism we are called to reject the “glamor” of evil, recog-nizing that the devil is the “Prince of Lies,” the “Author of Confusion,” who seeks to create enmity and sow division. If I support a candidate who promotes unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that are blatant lies told to hurt and denigrate people, if I don’t reject this, what does this say about my character and my integrity? What if I support a candidate who marginalizes, mocks, and belittles people, who seeks to demonize and dehumanize whole groups of people for political gain? Doesn’t every holocaust, genocide, and human rights atrocity start with these same de-humanizing lies? Lies are a form of violence which lead to greater violence. Jesus spoke truth to power and identi-fied with the “least of these.” If we want to know the character of a person, this is the “great criterion” upon which we all will be judged (Mt:25.) For his love, Jesus was called a liar and a blasphemer. He was accused of being pos-sessed by the devil. If we believed this lie, would it incite enough fear and hatred in us that we might approve and even participate in crucifying the “Son of God?” Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6.) He comes to heal, to make us whole and holy, that we might be “one.” This is the truth which can set us free. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who comes that we “might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10.) As disciples of Christ, our unity must be rooted in honesty, truth, and in love—not deceit, greed, and partisan political ideology. May we work to cultivate a culture of life and a civiliza-tion of love, where liberty and justice flourish for all. People of good-will may well differ on the best ways to make justice a reality, but there is no doubt that this is what we are called to do. None of us have all the answers or ever fully live up to the ideals we espouse. Each of us have different experiences, gifts, and blind spots. All of us are in need of healing. Our country and our world are in need of healing. That’s why we come together as “the people of God,” to listen, to learn, and to bring healing. Each of us has a part to play. Like Jesus, may we recognize that where there is love, there is God, that the reign of God is at hand, and that in the end love has the final word.

Tom Reichert Pastoral Ministry/Outreach Coordinator | treichert@saintjosephcc.org

_____________________________________________________________________________

The North Georgia Catholic Social Teaching Program will be holding a session on Faithful Citizenship on Thursday, October 8, at 7:30 PM at Transfiguration Church in Marietta. Kat Doyle, Director of Justice and Peace

Ministries with the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Tom Reichert will be leading the session. More information and how to register for in-person attendance can be found at

https://transfiguration.com/get-involved/ministries/catholic-social-teaching/ Since we are under COVID restrictions, attendees will be following the same guidelines as people who attend Mass:

• Must register in advance (see link above) • wear a mask during the entire presentation

• social distance within the Sanctuary. Additionally, we will be live streaming the event for those of you who would prefer to attend remotely. The link to

participate remotely is https://transfiguration.com/media/live-mass-stream/. Please consider either attending in-person or remotely.

Artwork by Tom Reichert

Faithful Citizenship And The Church as Healer

“I’ve done my part, may Christ teach you to do yours.” Saint Francis

“Democracy is fundamentally a system and as such is a means to an end. It’s moral value is not automatic, but de-pends on conformity to the moral law to which it, like every other form of human behavior, must be subject: in other words, its morality depends on the morality of the ends which it pursues and of the means which it employs.” Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church #407 “At all times, the Church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the time and interpreting them in light of the Gospel, if it is to carry out its task.” Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, #4 “Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics.” Pope Benedict XVI (God is Love #28) “Justice is the minimal condition of love.”

Pope Paul VI (Address for Development, 1968) Jesus dedicated his life to healing, offering his life in self-giving love to make us whole, wholesome, and holy, that the world might be “one,” that the “reign” of God might come more fully on earth as is in heaven. He dedicated his life to cultivating a culture of inclusion, seeking out the lost—be they rich or poor, teaching us that whatever hap-pens even unto the “least of these,” happens to him. His is a message of hope, giving witness to the faith which casts out fear and to the truth which sets us free. The Church must follow in his footsteps. The purpose of Catholic Social teaching is to bring about healing, justice, respect for human dignity, and care for all of creation. “The social message of the Gospel must not be considered a theory,” writes Pope John Paul II, “but above all a basis and motiva-tion for action.” (Centesimus Annus #57) The God we pray to is a God of justice. Ours is a country pledged to “liberty and justice for all.” Pope Paul VI tell us, “if you want peace, work for justice.” Our spiritual journey is fragile, and always a work in progress. Our democracy is fragile, and always a work in progress as well. In the USCCB pastoral letter Economic Justice For All we read, ”Our nation was born in the face of injustice to native Americans… Slavery stained the commercial life of the land through its first two hundred and fifty years and was ended only by a violent civil war. The establishment of women’s suffrage, the protection of industrial workers, the elimination of child labor, the response to the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s all involved a sustained struggle to transform the political and economic institutions of the nation.” These struggles continue. This year we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. In the 1992 document When I Call for Help: Domestic Violence Against Women, our bishops write, “Domestic violence is the most common form of violence in our society and the least reported crime.” In his 1995 Letter to Women, Pope John Paul II notes, “There is an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area: equal pay for equal work… fairness in career advancements…and the recognition of everything that is part of the rights and duties of citizens in a democratic state.” In Christ is Alive, Pope Francis acknowledges that we as a church must recognize our own history. He writes: “A living Church can look on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence.” All liberation is mutual liberation. Defending the dignity of women brings healing to both the perpetrators of sexist violence and the innocent victims. Racism has been called the “original sin” of our country. Slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws have been abol-ished, yet the sin of racism is still all too evident. Catholics who have walked in protest of this sin heard the chant, “no justice, no peace.” (Pope Paul VI declared “If you want peace, work for justice,” back in 1972.) In 1979, the Unit-ed States Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote, “How great the scandal given by racist Catholics who make the Body of Christ, the Church, a sign of racial oppression!” (Brothers and Sisters to Us.) If we do not do our part to stand against the sin of racism, what does this say about our soul? Those who stand against the sin of racism bring Christ-like healing, “liberty and justice for all,” and mutual liberation. Bishop McElroy of San Diego states that “more than 750,000 unborn children are directly killed in the United States each year.” Our bishops write, “Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally ac-ceptable and must always be opposed.” (Faithful Citizenship #64) All human life is sacred; the dignity of all hu-man life must be defended and protected by law. Human dignity isn’t determined by whether we’re “wanted” or not—or by how old we are. Mother Mary risked her life to protect her unborn child. Her unborn child would grow

into someone who would give his life—even for “the least of these.” To be pro-life is to defend the dignity of the 7.3 billion people already “born.” The UN places the number of displaced refugees at over 70 million, the highest since World II. “The Gospel mandate to ‘welcome the stranger’ requires Catho-lics to care for and stand with newcomers, authorized and unauthorized,” write the U.S Bishops, “including unaccom-panied immigrant children, refugee seekers, and asylum-seekers.” Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were displaced refugees. Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II stated, “the poverty of billions of men and women is the one issue that most chal-lenges our human and Christian consciences.” (CSDC#449) He writes, “Today, given the worldwide dimension, we can-not but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and, above all those without hope for a better future. It is impossible not to take account of the existence of these realities. To ig-nore them would mean becoming like ‘the rich man’ who pretended not to know the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate.” (On Social Concerns #42) He states, “One of the greatest injustices in the contemporary world consists precise-ly in this; that the ones who possess much are relatively few and those who possess almost nothing are many.” (Social Concerns, #28) Oxfam reports that “the 26 richest billionaires in the world own as many assets as 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the planet’s population.” We must ask ourselves, is “love of money” still the root of all evil? Is it moral for us to put our country and our narrow self-interests first—at the expense of the common good of humanity where untold millions languish in abject poverty? Pope Paul XI writes, “Avarice, in individuals and nations, is the most obvious form of stultified moral development.” (Development of the Peoples #19) What are the inequali-ties in the world that the present pandemic has exposed? Who do we trust most to provide moral, honest leadership capable of addressing them? Who honors science, the right to healthcare, and offers a unifying voice of compassion? “The experience of the pandemic has taught us that none of us is saved alone,” writes Pope Francis, “we have experi-enced firsthand the vulnerability of the human condition that is ours and makes us one family.”

In his encyclical Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict XVI writes ,“The church has a responsibility toward creation, and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In doing so she must defend not only earth, water, and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction” (#51.) Care for creation is a pro-life issue. “A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system,” writes Pope Francis (Laudato Si, #23.) “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain…The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capaci-ty that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes….” (Laudato Si,#161) Saving humanity from ourselves happens only through conscious choice. Upon his 1981 visit to Hiroshima, Pope John Paul II stated, “From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through deliberate policy that humanity can survive.” In 1983, the NCCB stated in The Challenge of Peace: “The crises of which we speak arises from this fact: nuclear war threatens the existence of our planet; this is a more menacing threat than any the world has known.” Over 70 million people died in the two World Wars this past century causing the church to “undertake a completely fresh reappraisal of war.” “No, never again war!” says Pope Paul VI. “No, never again war,” repeats Pope John Paul II, “which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, and throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing.” On August 6 of this year, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima saying, “The use of atomic energy for purpos-es of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral. We will be judged on this.” What about the “low-yield” nuclear weapons which are presently being developed for tactical use in a “limited nuclear war”? “The name of God cannot be used to justify violence,” writes Pope John Paul II. “Peace alone is holy. Peace alone is holy, not war!” To stand against war, nuclear weapons, anti-immigrant jingoism, racism, sexism, abortion, the degradation and de-struction of “our common home,” economic injustice, hunger, and poverty where so many lack access to basic medi-cal care is to defend “life” and bring Christ-like healing. First and foremost, these are moral issues, not political is-sues. The church calls for an integral Christian humanism, “that is up to the standards of God’s plan of love in history…capable of creating a new social, economic, and political order, founded on the dignity of every human person, to be brought about in peace, justice and solidarity” (Compendium #19.) Charity, meaning love, “must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political life,” writes Pope Benedict. (God is Love, #29) “Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine…We need to be convinced that charity is the principle not only of micro-relationships (friends and family members) but also macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones)” (God is Love, #2.) It is the moral responsibility of every Catholic “to infuse a Christian spirit into the mentality, customs, laws and structures of the community in which they live.” (CSDC #531) The social, economic, and political policies we sup-