Praying for the right direction for our country--and the world

Those of us who have chosen to try to follow the teaching of Jesus do so because we have found in Him the Shepherd who has healed us and gives us a sense of direction.  Most of us have found in many Christian leaders—popes, bishops, priests, parents, teachers—people who somehow mirror and mediate the servant leadership of Jesus.  But we are not only members of a church; we are citizens of a country.  

In the US we are entering a season of presidential and congressional campaigns. It may seem like an unreasonable leap to go from the topic of spiritual leadership to the domain of electoral politics.  But it is a fact that, even in the secular realm of public office, we seek leaders who will look to the needs of the people and for whom the prayer of Solomon—“an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong”—and the compassion of Jesus (Mk 6:30-34) would not be out of place.

That’s why our U.S. Catholic bishops have reissued the message they published four years ago, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” They tell us, once again, to look for candidates who themselves demonstrate consciences attentive to the common good and whose sense of right and wrong hold up well when measured against the full spectrum of Catholic social teaching. The bishops remind us: “Unfortunately, politics in our country often can be a context of powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype. The Church calls for a different kind of political engagement: one shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and the vulnerable.”

Just quoting that last sentence is enough to remind us that the current talk of campaigners and their TV ads generally strike another tone than the prayer of Solomon and the words of Jesus.  It is time to read the bishops’ letter again.