Homily

Usually, when we think about politics we are thinking about our political system: congress, senators, legislatures, presidents, voting people to office, law-making, Republicans, Democrats and all those things that have to do with the governing of our cities, states and country. And those things are all political, of course, but they are not the only kind of politics that exist. Wikipedia defines the word “politics” as “the set of activities that are associated with making decisons in groups or other forms of power relationships among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.”

As a people and as a country, we have, I think, become increasingly more political, and by that I don't mean simply Republican or Democrat or voting on ballot measures. I also mean the people have become more and more dependent on the government to assist us and direct our lives. It used to be that we expected our laws to reflect our moral code, but today many people see the law as defining what is moral or immoral. If it's legal, then it's morally permissible. More than that, many people and groups in recent times have complained that their rights and freedoms are not being recognized by the government. These are so-called rights and freedoms that no Christian society or country has ever even imagined until recent years, but people still insist that they are genuine values that need to be recognized and upheld. Because, as modern people, we can reject the wisdom and tradition of 2,000 years of western civilization whenever we wish to do so, and in so many ways we have.

As a result, we end up with situations like this: a person, who looks like a man, talks like a man, shaves like a man, a person whose every living cell in his body is genetically male, is allowed to compete and then win in women's swimming competitions, simply because he declares that he is a woman. This is absurd. And yet he has several times been awarded first place. For many people this is a victory for trans-gender rights, although I hardly think the women who lost those races to this man would feel the same.

As more and more the Christian people in Oregon, in America, drift further and further away from faith we will continue to see more changes in what is accepted as moral behavior, and our children and grandchildren will have to live with the consequences of that. If we do not hold to the morality we have received from Jesus Christ, if we do not adhere to the Gospel message as completely true and worthy, if we do not hold Our Lord as the center of our lives, then we do not have a solid basis to challenge these changes to what is considered moral behavior. And this is the same basic reason behind what we have seen so many other times, in laws changing regarding contraception, abortion, easy divorce, greater freedom for pornography, the right to suicide, transgender demands and the list could go on.

As we see the common Christian moral values that used to define America as a Christian nation being knocked down, one by one, with no end in sight, we should be concerned. When we as a people take apart and tear away at our common moral understanding, the definition of what is right and wrong ends up being decided by each individual person, and of course this can easily turn into what is right for me is good, and who cares about you? And then, not relying on common moral values, the state becomes the only way to regulate the behavior of people. The state becomes our moral guide. What could go wrong there? And this is the answer I would give to those who say, "I wouldn't do this myself, but if other people want to do it, why should I stand in their way. So, I'm voting yes." That's the thought process many people use: "I can't put my morality on you, so I will vote for this thing." They don't seem to realize that by taking this position, they are allowing the other side to put their morality on them, and their children, and the whole community, and the state becomes the enforcer of a new moral position. Life issues, before birth, in disabled individuals, and in old age—if life itself is not valued, then what kind of values are we living with?

We are told we must be compassionate and caring. We are told we must have compassion for women who are pregnant and do not want to give birth. But there is no compassion for the unborn at Planned Parenthood facilities. In 2020 Oregon voting effectively de-criminalized the possession of drugs. People who wanted this measure to pass also appealed to voters to have compassion for people who suffered from drug addiction. They will get treatment. In Oregon in 2019 there were 280 opioid deaths from overdosing. Two years after the law was changed, 935 deaths. This is the result of the compassion granted by the state and its voters. This is the compassion of modern politics.

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia once gave a fine talk. Here is part of what he said, because he is much smarter and holier than me:

"Too many people who claim to be Christian simply don't know Jesus Christ. They don't really believe in the Gospels. They feel embarrassed by their religion and vaguely out of step with the times. They may keep their religion for comfort value. Or they may adjust it to fit their doubts. But it doesn't reshape their lives because it isn't real. And because it isn't real, it has no transforming effect on their personal behavior, no social force, and few public consequences.

"Augustine reminds us that the City of Man and the City of God intermingle. We have obligations to each. But our final home and our real citizenship are not in this world. Politics is important, but it's never the main focus or purpose of a Christian life. If we do not know and love Jesus Christ, and commit our lives to him, and act on what we claim to believe, everything else is empty. But if we do, so much else is possible—including the conversion of at least some of the world around us. The only question that finally matters to any of us is the one Jesus posed to his apostles: 'Who do you say I am?' Everything depends on the answer. Faith leads in one direction, the lack of it in another. But the issue is faith—always and everywhere, whether we're scholars or doctors or priests or lawyers or mechanics. Do we believe in Jesus Christ, or don't we? And if we do, what are we going to do about it?"

The bedrock questions: Do we believe in Jesus Christ or don't we. And if we do, what are we going to do about it?

Let us pray and ask the Lord to strengthen our faith today, because we, our families and our country are in great need of light, wisdom, and truth.