We are a little over two weeks away from the general election. There have been and continue to be, strong feelngs and thinking about the upcoming election, especially when it has to do with who will be elected our president. So much attention is being given to it, that other races for various elected positions, are being ignored by some, and ballot initiatives are also not being given much attention by some in the electorate. I urge you to spend time reviewing the ballot issues long before you go to the poll to vote. Being sufficiently and properly prepared to vote, is imperative if we want our vote to truly express what we believe and want to happen on the local, state and national level.
As far as preparation to vote, I want to quote Pope Francis who was asked by a reporter on October 2 to comment about the upcoming presidential election. He said: "The people are soveriegn. Study the proposals well, pray, and choose in conscience." I hope all Catholics and everyone of faith who will vote follow the guidance of our pope AND the Church's teaching before going to the polls. Our United States Bishops give us the means to form our consciences sufficiently and correctly through the document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" which you can Google and pull up in its entirety. Doing so, in my opinion, is far better than finding, watching and passing on homilies on the subject of the upcoming election from particular prients in Arizona, Colorado, or other places. Our bishops are clear about the subject of forming one's conscience on page 14, paragraph 17, in the document above when they say, "Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their conscience in accord with human reasoning and the teaching of the Church. While I don't have the space in this column to quote too much from the bishop's teaching on forming consciences for faithful citizenship, I urge you to read the whole document and give special attention to what is said on page 18, paragraphs 34-37. I would like to as least quote one of these paragraphs here. It says in paragraph 37: "In making these decisions, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose policies promoting intrinsically evil acts (see paragraph 34) has a special claim on our consciences and actions. These decisions should take into account a candidate's commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue."
While something tells me I might quote more of the document in next week's pastor's column, I again urge everyone to read it in its entirety, be informed on the candidates and their positions, and most importantly, PRAY BEFORE GOING TO THE POLLS!
As far as preparation to vote, I want to quote Pope Francis who was asked by a reporter on October 2 to comment about the upcoming presidential election. He said: "The people are soveriegn. Study the proposals well, pray, and choose in conscience." I hope all Catholics and everyone of faith who will vote follow the guidance of our pope AND the Church's teaching before going to the polls. Our United States Bishops give us the means to form our consciences sufficiently and correctly through the document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" which you can Google and pull up in its entirety. Doing so, in my opinion, is far better than finding, watching and passing on homilies on the subject of the upcoming election from particular prients in Arizona, Colorado, or other places. Our bishops are clear about the subject of forming one's conscience on page 14, paragraph 17, in the document above when they say, "Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their conscience in accord with human reasoning and the teaching of the Church. While I don't have the space in this column to quote too much from the bishop's teaching on forming consciences for faithful citizenship, I urge you to read the whole document and give special attention to what is said on page 18, paragraphs 34-37. I would like to as least quote one of these paragraphs here. It says in paragraph 37: "In making these decisions, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose policies promoting intrinsically evil acts (see paragraph 34) has a special claim on our consciences and actions. These decisions should take into account a candidate's commitments, character, integrity, and ability to influence a given issue."
While something tells me I might quote more of the document in next week's pastor's column, I again urge everyone to read it in its entirety, be informed on the candidates and their positions, and most importantly, PRAY BEFORE GOING TO THE POLLS!