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Thoughts, post-election

In my experience it’s pretty rare to see a priest rock himself back in his chair and just barely contain a hearty chuckle, but this passage from the first reading at Mass today gave many of us that same reaction:

Do everything without grumbling or questioning,
that you may be blameless and innocent,
children of God without blemish
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom you shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life,
so that my boast for the day of Christ may be
that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Phil 2:15)

I don’t know too many people who love the Church who aren’t feeling at least a little depressed if not downright devastated at the results of the election.  Let’s face it, when the most pro-abortion President wins an election after also declaring war on the Church via a direct assault on our First Amendment freedom of religion it makes for a pretty tough day.  It’s okay, and probably even right, to go back over what happened and try to figure out where everything went so very, very wrong.  What we can’t do is allow ourselves to live there or to allow it to demoralize us into inaction.

Saint Paul reminds us very clearly today that we are called not just to exist in this world but to “shine like lights in the world“.  You may also recall an admonition from Jesus that has to do with light – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.” (Mt. 5:14-15)  The pain of this result cannot cause us to hide ourselves, waiting for things to change on their own or waiting for God to miraculously grant Pauline conversions to mass numbers of people.

This is not a cause for retreat but a cause for a renewal of our determination.  The cause of Life was not dealt a setback yesterday because we are wrong but because too few have had the depth of the truth explained to them in a way that makes sense.  Don’t wall yourself into a corner to avoid all those out there who still don’t realize how much the modern culture has lied to them – get out there and help them understand the issues.  Pray, fast, do penance.  And speak.  The good have been silent far too long.  For the record, it’s just shy of amazing for me to say this given how much I dislike speaking publicly in any way, but we simply don’t have excuses any more.

At the end of the Mass the Deacon proclaims, “Ite missa est!” – one translation for this is, “Go!  The Mass is finished.”  Now is the time, the world needs us.  If the Christians in ancient Rome did not hesitate in the face of the literal lions we must not now cower in the face of the figurative ones.  In the end, God wins – indeed God has already won, and that’s what really matters.

Something to get you going in this difficult time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV4tEP5QtUU

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