Reflections on Bridging our Faith and Politics

By TODD GRAFF

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men [and women] of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.

-Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, #1

Greetings of Peace! This election season has brought me to many moments of reflection on the relationship between our Christian faith and our political life as citizens. I believe that it’s a complex area which demands careful and humble discernment from each of us. The path of “faithful citizenship” can be a treacherous one to follow (see the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship).

I also believe that it’s very easy for us, in our American society and culture, to become “tribal” and to identify ourselves with the politics and ideology of a particular party or movement. And, from my perspective, this is very dangerous and risks deforming our faith. Our primary identity, as baptized believers, is to be followers of Christ as Christians and Catholics. To subject our faith to political allegiances and movements is a form of idolatry and must be carefully guarded against.

I was reading a text by Timothy P. O’Malley on the Eucharist recently (Behold, Believe, Become by Ave Maria Press), and something he wrote offered me a deep insight into this arena of faith in relation to our culture and politics. He writes that the reformed liturgical rites of the Second Vatican Council (i.e., how we celebrate the Eucharist) are to: “…help us to abide as contemplative, liturgical, and sacramental creatures in a world governed more by technique and power than by wonder. And, therefore, to reshape this world of ours according to a liturgical and sacramental way of being, rather than one defined by politics and economics alone.” (p. xvii)

He challenges us to “exercise [our] sacramental vision.” To me, this is so critical. The world we live in and experience daily is often shaped and beholden to “technique and power … politics and economics.” The world of faith is one of “wonder” where we live out “a liturgical and sacramental way of being.” We are called to live in this culture and society as “contemplative, liturgical, and sacramental creatures.”

To be clear, this does not make the world around us bad and necessarily corrupt. But, where it is governed by the forces of manipulation, greed, and coercive power, we must seek out a different path. And, the wisdom and energy to do this comes to us from the “power” of the sacraments - and, especially, from the Eucharist. It is there we encounter the living Christ, who gives himself to us in the humble form of bread and wine transformed into his sacred Body and Blood.

And, fed by his True Presence, we together become his self-sacrificing, loving, hopeful and joyfilled “presence” in the world. We are no longer part of a “tribe” fighting against our perceived enemies, but part of a Body which is broken for the life of the world. That is our true identity, as Catholics, and it comes to us through the grace of our sacramental life within the community of the Church.

In the words of the Council, this sacramental way of being forms us, as “followers of Christ,” and unites us to our neighbors, and especially to those who are “poor or in any way afflicted,” in “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties … of this age.” The genuine needs, and sorrows, and suffering of our sisters and brothers “echo” in our hearts; and, as we hear, our hearts respond in love.

We must engage with the political realities and issues of our day, but we must do so from the framework and vision of our Christian faith. To make this more concrete, I would like to share some brief thoughts on an issue dividing our nation.

“… a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35)

Both of my grandparents on my father’s side came to this country as immigrants. They left their home villages in Europe due to the impoverished economic conditions their families were facing at the time. With only the most basic education, they lived and worked as poor farmers, had six children, and barely survived our country’s Great Depression.

My father served his country in World War II as a navy pilot, and then went on to college. He eventually became a bank president in our hometown. He and his sisters and brothers worked and raised their families, volunteered in their churches and communities, and made these communities and our country a better place.

I think of my grandparents as I hear the harsh and dehumanizing words being written and spoken about migrants and immigrants during this election season. It’s not a partisan political point, as a “faithful citizen,” to speak out against such attacks on immigrants and to affirm that those living among us and at our borders are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, neighbors, workers, and for many of us, friends. And, as Christians, they are, by virtue of our shared baptism, our sisters and brothers in Christ. And, by virtue of their humanity, children of God.

Their “joys and hopes,” their “griefs and anxieties,” are also ours; and, their needs “raise an echo in [our] heart.” Whatever the results of this election, the call of our Christian faith remains to defend, protect, and care for the lives of the most vulnerable in our midst - including these, our immigrant sisters and brothers. Deo gratias!

…"for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…. Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me."

-Matthew 25:35-36, 40

Todd Graff is the Director of OCIA for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester