Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
During last weekend's homily, I quoted our United States Bishops who said how important it is to read the ENTIRE document "Forming Our Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."  While I echo their sentiment and urge everyone to pull-up the link to that document on our website:  www.hsvsacredheart.com or look forward to prayerfully reading it when hard copies arrive, I feel it is important to quote two paragraphs from this teaching for our reflection before we go to the polls to vote.  The first is paragraph 34 on page 18.  It says "Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote.  This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-informed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods.  A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, IF THE VOTER'S INTENT IS TO SUPPORT THAT POSITION.  In such cases, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil.  At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate's opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity."

Since we are all aware that some people are truly considering not voting for either of the two major candidates for President of the United States and are understandably conflicted about doing so, I quote from paragraph 36 on page 18 which says this:  "When all the candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma.  The voter can decide to take the extra-ordinary step of not voting for any candidate or after careful deliberation, can decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed postion and more like to pursue other authentic human goods."

I encourage all of us to ponder these and all the other points our bishop makes in this document AND pray before, during and after this election for our leaders, citizens and all who have the responsibility to advance the common good in our country and throughout the world.

Please join with me and many other people of faith in praying a prayer to Mary, Immaculate as a Novena from October 30 through November 7 for election day.  The prayer can be found in this weeks bulletin.
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!
The story of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus reminds us of the importance of giving thanks to God and to those who touch our lives and the lives of other people in a Christ-like way.  The Samaritan was the only one who returned to give thanks to Jesus, and he was further blessed to hear Jesus tell him the great news that his faith had saved him from the sickness that he thought he would have for the rest of his life.

If I thought about it for a short time, I would recognize that I could use part of my pastor's column each week to give thanks to God for people in our parish who have been generous with their time and in some cases their treasure, for others.  This week I must thank manyof my brother Knights of Columbus who spent at least two hours last weekend standing in various locations to collect money for the Campaign for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities.  I was privileged to be one of them, and witness at the West Gate, many people of all faiths give to this worthy cause.

Over the last number of weeks we have heard from various people before Mass who encouraged more participation in the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Men's Club, and music ministry at Mass.  I hope at least some of you are considering participating in these activities.  I would like to give a written encouragement for more of our men to become Knights of Columbus in Council 10208 here in Hot Springs Village.  There are too many reasons why I believe the Knights are for every Catholic man for me to mention here.  Perhaps I will dedicate a future pastor's column to doing just that.  I am proud to say that we have one of the best Councils that I have ever been associated with as a priest.

Right now I want to say "THANK YOU" to all who go beyond the pews for Mass to put their faith into action in the ways I have mentioned and more.  Keep up the good work!