by Nikki Shasserre,
member of St. Teresa Parish in Lincoln
It’s over. It’s done. The battle has been won.
Even as D-Day laid the foundation for the ultimate victory of the Allied forces, the battle to the end intensified.
Jesus has defeated death. It has no hold on us. The evil one has been crushed. The war was won. Yet the battle rages on. And every day, the evil one tries to make us forget the greatest defeat in the history of the world.
I’m a big Father John Riccardo fan. Anyone who listens to his Acts XXIV “You Were Born for This” podcast, knows much of what I am sharing comes from his wisdom.
I was recently invited to be on a panel about political life hosted by the Nebraska Catholic Conference. The question was asked, “Why do you think a good Catholic should meddle in politics?” I’ve been involved in politics as long as I can remember. My short answer; Culture doesn’t just happen, it’s shaped. And the political world is an evangelization field that directly influences our culture.
Paragraph 2239 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom… service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.”
In Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II tells us of the urgency to take the Gospel to all people: “I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.”
If we’re not involved in shaping culture, our spot gets filled. Far too often, I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time complaining about the current political environment, caught up in social media fights, trying to control what is out of my control. I can work to make an impact, but ultimately the only person I can control is myself. Instead of engaging in yet another social media battle, could I sit and write a letter to my elected officials? Even thank them? Could I take the time to learn the process of the Nebraska Legislature? Volunteer on a local political campaign?
We can fall into a trap of anger, labeling all elected officials as corrupt. We become suspect of their motives simply because they ran for office and lump the entire “government” into a vast conspiracy theory of something out to get us. I have worked with good men and women in our government and in politics. I know people striving to live lives of holiness and be true servant leaders in our community, state and nation; putting themselves on the front line of the battle, often to find their fellow believers have joined the mob in screaming falsehoods and assumptions. How will we continue to encourage men and woman of virtue to run for and work in these positions of great cultural influence if we continue to denigrate them every chance we get?
We don’t have to agree on everything to respectfully engage. My friend and former FOCUS missionary, Scott Powell, recently led a conversation between Professor Robert George and Dr. Cornel West titled, “Is Civil Discourse Dead?” It can be found at the Aquinas Institute of Catholic Thought and I would highly recommend watching it: https://www.thomascenter.org/aict.
Of course there are many in public office who need to be called to deep conversion, as there are in every corner of the world; just as our own hearts need conversion. This world has been broken since the Fall. But all we have to do is look at the first followers of Jesus and throughout Church history to see how seemingly impossible change happens when people encounter Jesus and the truth of the Catholic Church. Do we pray earnestly for our leaders, or have we given up hope that St. Paul conversions are possible? A persecutor of Christians became one of the greatest saints, and led cultural change everywhere he went. This is not just for 2,000 years ago, but for today. For such a time as this.
As a disciple of Christ, we must live differently. So often, myself included, we begin to imitate the world. We talk as they talk, hate as they hate. How do we expect to move anyone closer to truth if we engage with threats?
Please do not mistake what I am saying. We must continue to fight in this battle and engage. We must be faithful. It will be hard. We will be persecuted and mocked. Families will be divided. But we must remember that our Lord has already won.
Overcome with the reality of Easter and the conquering of death; let me repeat that, the conquering of DEATH, I was nearly moved to tears listening to the second reading on Divine Mercy Sunday:
“for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
– 1 John 5:4-5
The evil one wants nothing more than to divide us; to wreak our vital unity. And how often we see this within our Christian and Catholic communities. Early Christians turned this world upside down. United in their mission, small in number, they changed the world. In Colossians 1:13, Paul talks of being transformed from a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light.
I recently stumbled upon this 17th century testimony, when it was illegal to be Catholic in Ireland. Oliver Cromwell, a leader of the parliamentary army, wrote,
“All is not well with Ireland yet. You gave us the money, you gave us the guns. But let me tell you that every house in Ireland is a house of prayer, and when I bring these fanatical Irish before the muzzles of my guns, they hold up in their hands a string of beads, and they never surrender.”
Instead of throwing up our hands in disgust, may we hold up our hands with our string of beads, not in surrender but united in Christ, our victor and conqueror of the world.
