The Future of the Political Family
A few weeks ago, I wrote a message that offered some considerations on voting. In response, many people offered questions and comments of both praise and opposition . You may think that I would avoid political conversation (especially at the dinner table) because it can really get people going. But I sincerely valued the opportunity to hear more from you, the Grace Before Meals family! I’d rather hear about what you’re thinking in appropriate settings rather than harbor grudges . Therefore, a day after the general election , I think it’s necessary to write another political commentary. After all, it’s still a free country – I hope!
First, please know I’m writing this a few days before Election Day, so I have no idea who will be elected . Thank God, I can’t tell the future. If I could, I think I’d be slightly depressed. No one really knows what will happen in the future. Even the most informed media outlets, political pundits, and future presidential candidates cannot foretell the outcome of this election . Who knows what’s in store for our country, our world, and even our families in the next few years?
While only God knows the future, we can live in the present with a certain hope of the direction we’re going. If you’re living your life headed in the direction of Heaven (i.e., praying, living the Faith, going to church, receiving the sacraments), you can hope, with some certainty, you will get there someday. This hope is not presumptive, because I’m not using “hope” as a political motto, but rather a theological virtue. Theological hope tells us that no matter who sits in the Oval Office, God is still our ultimate leader. So if your candidate did not win, you can complain, whine, be depressed, even move to another country; or you can make sure that you remain an active and law abiding citizen with the hope that this nation is still under God – not as an elected official, but as a father who loves His children.
When I consider all of the problems our country faces, the criticisms and divisive issues of the universal church, and the news of world crisis, I am sometimes tempted to wonder if we are going to hell in a hand basket. Then I take time and pray and realize that every child born reminds us that God is not done with this world just yet. There is still hope that we will be ok – as a family, as a country, as a world. It just takes every person to put into practice what all religions agree upon: trust in a God who loves us and wants us to love one another as he does.
So, even if your presidential choice did not win, don’t lose hope in God, for He will send us the leader that will help us see we are citizens of a Heavenly inheritance. If your candidate didn’t win, it’s not because God didn’t answer your prayers. It was strange to hear in this election season how voters began praying for their candidate to win. From UN officials to Hollywood stars to the faithful home schooling family, many people began praying for an outcome according to their desires. Instead, we need to pray that we fulfill God’s desire. Prayer teaches us that even if our party did win, we cannot put our hope in one person. He will turn to dust just as all of history’s greatest and worst leaders.
Sorry if my commentary is raining on your parade or if it isn’t consoling enough. My job is to put families first and to make sure they can talk about the recent election with hope for the future. Change our country and the world can only happen if we first change our hearts and minds to God’s truth.
What Americans should hope for is a president who won’t pretend to be a fortune-teller. We need a leader who can be a prophet. In this election cycle, both candidates seemed to overstep their natural human ability. Both presented claims they would make dramatic changes that would benefit us all . While saints have shown that one life, lived fully for God, can change the world, I would question whether our President Elect (or any president for that matter) is a saint.
What would impress me about this new President is if he tried not to act as the Messiah, but a prophet in the Biblical sense and not as Hollywood portrays it.
Unfortunately, the modern mentality of presidents, Speakers of the House, Senate leaders, and even judges is they are allowed to act above the law. Some remind me of emperors who saw their position as a divine right, rather than a responsibility to public service.
Therefore, we need a prophet leader who can read the signs of the times similar to how weather is forecasted. A true prophet can see that the future of the political family will survive only if we allow unborn children to survive the threat of deadly choices. A true prophetic leader will respect and understand the power of history and realize that leaders fall from grace when they attempt to take God’s place and make decisions that harm life. A true prophetic leader is someone who desires to be a saint, someone who seeks the Kingdom of God rather than trying to create Heaven on earth.
In every election, there is a winner and a loser. But the real loser is the one who loses faith in the fact that we are a nation under God, not a nation under the whims of popularity or presidents.
This blast aims to remind all citizens, no matter what nation you live in, that we can’t place too much faith in politicians. They are only human. Before the elections, I read an article about how some Hollywood folk declared (once again) they would leave the country if their candidate didn’t win. My thought: It’s a free country. Go right ahead.
But for those who stick around, no matter which candidate puts his hand on the Bible on Inauguration Day, we have hard work ahead of us. We must do all we can to ens ure our family stays indivisibly united under God, with liberty and justice for all – born and unborn.
Banana & Apples Foster Crisp
At the end of this election season, we need something as American as apple pie. But, because I’m not a baker and I like to manipulate traditional recipes, I created something a little different for the Mount St. Mary’s winning soccer team dinner. The dessert received many positive votes and made seminarians very happy.
Please click here for the recipe.
Prayers for Leaders of Nations
Prayers work. Maybe not the way you want them to work, but then again, you’re not God. Therefore, trust God hears your prayers. And in this contentious political season, our prayers can help us understand that no matter who is p resident, God will continue to bless our nation. Remember, every child born in this world is a sign that God continues to send us future leaders for our families.
Let us Pray:
Father in Heaven, bless the leaders of our nation with wisdom, humility, and upright moral character. May our leaders know that justice can only be achieved when we uphold the principal priority of the Right to Life. Give to our public servants the grace to make decisions that are appropriate to their office. Allow them to be humble before all people, by serving the needs of the citizens, not just with words, but most importantly with actions. Lord, as nations experience division due to political fighting, give to citizens the grace to be peacemakers, to take responsibility for their own lives, and to try and work together for the good of all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ask Fr. Leo for fatherly advice.
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