Dear Parishioners and Visitors:
Christ’s Kingdom is spiritual, not political. But this doesn’t mean that Christ’s followers have nothing to say about politics. This is a common misunderstanding in today’s society. We hear a lot of talk about the separation between Church and state. But that phrase can be taken in two different ways.
In the first place, it can mean that the government of a country doesn’t try to run the Church, and that, in turn, the Church doesn’t try to run the government. That’s the right way to understand separation of Church and state. But there is also a wrong way to understand it. The wrong viewpoint says that religion is just a social organization, and so, the Church has nothing to contribute to the public life of a community or a country.
But in fact, there is one area of life where faith and politics do overlap – on issues of moral principles. Governments, to do their job well and make just laws, must respect the natural moral law – the Ten Commandments is a good example of this. Natural moral law is built into human nature. It exists prior to politics and provides healthy parameters for political activity, just like the laws of physics existed prior to the invention of satellites and provided the parameters for space travel. Governments need clear knowledge of the natural moral law to do their job as much as engineers need clear knowledge of natural physical laws to do theirs.
God has made the Church a sure teacher and guide on questions of natural moral law. As Catholics, then, we have a lot to contribute to the discussion of public affairs. It is up to us to be the conscience of our nation. As followers of Christ, we should ask God to grant us the grace of not only allowing His spiritual Kingdom to spread into our hearts, but also to give us the wisdom and courage to be His messengers to the world around us, which is in significant need of moral guidance these days.
With prayerful best wishes,
Fr. John Mahoney
