Reflections On The Election: A Lament of a Colorado Catholic

cathedral, Geofencing

cathedralRegrettably, I left Sunday Mass yesterday disheartened.  And angry.  I told my wife: “If this is what the Catholic Church has come to, then I’m seriously wondering why Jesus needs to keep it around.”  Why would I say that?  Because if this election again embraces and empowers the same godless, secular agenda that has already profaned God’s laws, mocked His natural law and dismissed the Founding Father’s unique vision that basic individual rights come directly from God – and not from any human government, monarch, commission or court – then Darkness has again prevailed.

Is America Still Good?

At the very root of the apprehension that everybody feels on the brink of the American election is a growing awareness that we have now strayed and may not be coming back by reason of that distance. 

Neither candidate exemplifies the principals of self-sacrifice, altruism, and humility that made this country objectively “good”.  De Tocqueville said:  “America is great because it is good…”  Is America still good?  Festering in everybody’s mind right now is the answer that increasingly plagues each of us: Probably not.” That is the defining issue of our choices. That is our crisis.  That is why we are so uneasy.

I believe strongly that the Roman Catholic Church primarily – and our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters secondarily – will be held accountable for this breathtaking loss of goodness. Maybe I’ve just been reading too much of Jeremiah and Ezekiel lately.  However, the pattern is chillingly similar and eerily familiar in this modern context. Those Old Testament rantings ring familiar to present circumstance, both here in the United States and in the world at large.

United Catholic Votes

Here’s the terrible verdict nobody wants to hear or consider – especially the Catholics:  It’s the fault of the Catholic Church.  Because 60,000,000 united Catholic votes in the United States could make a difference.  They should make a difference.  But they won’t.  Because there is no unity in the Catholic Church anymore.

That understanding reveals a harsh and objective betrayal of Christ by His Catholic Church. Can’t happen because it’s His Mystical Body?  Reality check!  Behind the piety, pastoral publications, novenas, lawn signs and high-sounding exhortations there is – nothing.  The key element that viscerally separates the Catholic Church of today from the Early Church that transformed the pagan world is the one single thing that you will not see anywhere around you in the Catholic Church as you read this:  Unity of action.

Unity of action is the most substantively powerful, courageous and transformative catalyst that the Church has in its arsenal. Unity of action is capable of transforming the world. And it did – once before.  However,  not now because that unifying virility of the Catholic Church has fallen into sloth, indolence, diffusion and dissolution. 

Don’t let your Catholic reflexives get all bent out of shape over that statement.  That’s emotion – not logic.  Let’s stick with logic. This incapacity has gradually appeared within the Catholic Church as a deceptively dangerous camouflage of “light”. It is an increasing reflexive that favors turning to “hand-wringing” prayer and supplication when facing a determinative hour of action.  Relying on God is a good thing.  Don’t misunderstand.  But relying on God to the exclusion of any substantive self-commitment beyond heating up a bunch of Rosary beads is simply sloth and indolence.  And many of us stand guilty of that.  Again, I’m NOT saying the Rosary is inconsequential.  It’s not. 

But the reflexive elicited by the above statement is a tell-tale marker confirming the reality of this deceptive subterfuge.  Why?  It justifies our ability to digress from a key Catholic responsibility that must predicate our recourse to prayer and petition. It assuages our conscience. Perhaps “relying on God” may somehow personally absolve us of a nagging realization that we remain personally inarticulate, unpersuasive and generally uninvolved in any serious confrontation with the society around us?  Wallowing privately on a kneeler in an empty church and praying “Oh Daddy, help us!”  has replaced the more discomforting, courageous pragmatism of loading our resolve with real ammunition and going out into the public square to confront, challenge and “get in the face” of those who will ultimately subjugate, strangle and emasculate our Faith if we don’t oppose them – openly, fearlessly and with (at least!) an equal resolve.

God Doesn’t Vote:  We Do

God doesn’t vote:  we do.  But the Catholic vote in the United States has been miserably undermined by a familiar exhortation: “We need to pray for this Election!”.  That’s simply a capitulation to mindless piety that too easily dismisses an essential predicate.  And it’s pitiful by that fact.  Why?  Logic. Prayer is beginning of – but never, ever a substitute for – Christian action. When you’ve done everything you can, then pray for God to rescue you.  But it is unholy presumption to engage that final “punt into prayer” before we’ve each done our part and expended every effort of earthly ability and Catholic responsibility toward determinative action.  Only then can we rightly and righteously call upon God to “save us”.  Only then have we earned the right to invoke and supplicate the Almighty by predicate offering of our own personal striving.  Until then, it’s like asking Dad for the car keys right after you’ve refused to mow His lawn because you didn’t want grass stains on your Saturday night style statement.

This emphasis on a self-oriented spiritual piety to offset our collective indolence has robbed Christianity its worldly virility –  it’s “salt”.   The Church has been losing its collective unity, its collective courage and its objective influence upon society rapidly since the 1970s.   Secular politicians have perceived this far more clearly than Catholics themselves.  We’re still mired in our own self-indulgent fantasies that Jesus’ presence in the Church will “fix everything”.  Without our vote?  Without our actions?  Without our zealousness in prioritizing and advocating for the things of God?  That’s why we’re inconsequential right now.  Nobody listens to, seeks or prioritizes appeals to the “Catholic Vote”. 

Because there simply is no “Catholic Vote”.  There is no Unity of Action in the Roman Catholic Church.  Let that just sink in.  It’s true. And it’s a shameful truth – like dropping our pants to our ankles in the public square. That naked truth is embarrassing.

The secular politicians see this harsh reality clearly, without any obscuring haze of personal piety or pretense obscuring their evaluations.  They long ago dismissed the toothless bluff of today’s Catholic Church.  They laugh at us.  If we were a force to be reckoned with, there would be no laughter.  There would be respect.  Better still, there would be a well-placed fear of consequence.  But their laughter remains.  Our self-righteous indolence has been stripped for all to see at the ballot box.  That’s where it becomes obvious to everybody but us silly Catholics.  And there is found our collective shame.  Jesus mandated us to be the “salt” that would preserve society.  That hasn’t worked out so well by any objective measure lately, has it? 

Comments on the Election From the Pulpit?

Each weekend I waited for something – anything– to be said from the pulpit.  Direct and unequivocal:  to the point.  Please!  Speak to our Catholic responsibility to stand unswayed on pro-life, anti-abortion, marriage between a man and a woman and anti-euthanasia topics.  The silence was deafening.  A lot of mumbo jumbo about developing an “informed conscience” (as if everybody in the pews actually knew what that meant!) and “standing firm for our Catholic beliefs” while carefully avoiding any specific mention of what those beliefs were and what they demand of us as Catholics as we approached one of the greatest moral litmus tests since the Civil War.  That opportunity was lost.

I was disappointed, angry – and dreadfully aware of how deeply Catholic pulpits around the country (with a few notable exceptions that went viral on YouTube for good reason – their contrast was breathtaking)  have betrayed Christ by silence and lack of courage.  If courage is the first sign of the Holy Spirit, then He’s gone to Florida for the duration of a long sabbatical.  Perhaps that is why so few priests now recognize Him. And why we do not recognize Him in them No salt.

Instead,  I heard about the Diocesan appeal and our financial progress to this year’s “goal” (yawn). I heard about how the Old Testament and New Testament provides a “theological sandwich” for us to consider (yawn- yeah, maybe I’ll try some lettuce with the sacred salami).  I heard an important announcement about which group was sponsoring the donuts and coffee after today’s Mass.

The Collection Plate 

From any objective measure, it seems that most pulpits preferred to be sated by the collection plate and stuck in the sacred salami.  “When the salt has lost its flavor” kept screaming in my head.  Again and again.  I couldn’t get rid of that Voice….  And I felt entirely helpless to change what I was observing, to invigorate it – or just simply kick its ass back into some small semblance of social respect and objective relevancy.  I sensed something already well-trampled underfoot.  And I can’t prayerfully find any persuasive reason to implore, petition or intervene against that resolution.  Because I believe that resolution – that prophetic warning – came from Jesus Christ Himself.  Why did He say that?   Because this is the necessary path to Calvary and Resurrection.

Calvary and Resurrection

“Death” must always precede resurrection.   Until Jesus Himself infuses a miraculous and divine restoration of His life within this inert Body, it will lie prone, silent and substantively irrelevant to the world beyond it.  It still bears His image, but not His courage, power and transforming, healing touch to the World.  Why?  Because of human weakness in that Body.  That susceptibility of human identity in His Body caused His Body to die once before. It died in the flesh.  It will do so again. 

To all objective appearances – it already has.  Unless we witness a miracle. My Faith will NEVER dismiss that potential.  Ever.

titleGuest Contributor: Mike White is a Catholic convert, a real estate investment banker, lawyer, Cursillista and father of four boys. Having navigated an Exodus from California, he now lives in Castle Rock, Colorado with Mary Jo, his wife of 36 years. Mike teaches RCIA  at his parish and writes on contemporary faith and economics issues.

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12 thoughts on “Reflections On The Election: A Lament of a Colorado Catholic”

  1. Perfect Love n Life

    Perfect reflection! Similar conviction too looking at the current reality we perceived in the world. The Church is known to be the Bride of Jesus Christ, means that the very presence of God. Who is the Church, building or people??? Why the reality that we perceived not reflected the state of heaven which is perfect beautiful n good instead it is completely opposite? If God is the same no change then who has changed? Shall we too examine our heart n answer truthfully where did our heart grounded, in World or in God! “Where the treasure is there the heart shall be” if so who is the root of all that we perceived in the world now??? Are we living in divine truth or worldly illusion??? Are we forsaken Jesus or Jesus forsaken us??? If there are so much injustice n frustration within how cld it be possible to see justice n peace in the world??? Wouldn’t we aware that the external reality is the reflection of the collective spiritual in inner state??? So, shall we examine too what the divine truth the Church individually creates or manifests to the world??? Who is the culprit??? Is the world created for the Church or the Church created for the world? If the Church cannot see the glory of God in Christ within how could the Church collectively expect to see or possible to manifest, the glory of God in the world? Similarly, if the Church individually have not risen from dead how could it be possible to see the risen Christ n Life in the world??? What say u???

    1. Dear Perfect Love – so many questions? What say I? Faith is not measured by understanding, but by obedience. No amount of questions will ever fulfill or confirm your Faith as much as a single action: obedience. I obey the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, speaking with the full authority and inspiration of Jesus Christ as one unity in the Holy Spirit. What I may understand beyond that is inconsequential – it’s just window dressing. Obedience is always superior to understanding. So, keep it simple. There is ONLY one question that matters: How can I please you in this moment, Lord? That question is alone sufficient – for the rest of your life. Simplicity comes from God – and is always the surest path toward Him.
      Blessings,
      Mike

  2. “If this is what the Catholic Church has come to, then I’m seriously wondering why Jesus needs to keep it around.”

    Read history and see the innumerable times that a similar situation has happened (St Catherine of Siena for example) . Jesus needs to keep the Catholic Church around because it is His body and it needs to be here to administer His law and keep the doors open for further converts to enter into the open barque of Peter that will be able to carry them to Heaven. Where else will you go to have your sins forgiven before you meet Jesus? Nowhere. Is that not something profound? Would you rather that Noah’s Ark had sunk because there was a sinner on board? Pray for your pastor, pray for the Pope, pray for the President. Prayer, alms and fasting are the only weapons that Jesus gave us. Use them.

    “St. Catherine was drawn further into the world as she worked, and eventually she began to travel, calling for reform of the Church and for people to confess and to love God totally. She became involved in politics, and was key in working to keep city states loyal to the Pope. She was also credited with helping to start a crusade to the Holy Land. On one occasion, she visited a condemned political prisoner and was credited with saving his soul, which she saw being taken up to heaven at the moment of his death.”

    http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=9

    1. Bernadette83 – I find no objection or difference in what we are both saying – except in one statement. The function of the Church is not only to forgive our individual sins, but to transform society. When it becomes impotent to save and salve the sins of society by reason of an objective ineffectiveness in that function, will it be any less expendable to God than the Temple? I dare not constrain God within His own fences by any human presumption. Prayer, alms and fasting are important but to deem them the “only weapons Jesus gave us”precisely confirms my point in this article: it enables Catholic vitality to languish within passive boundaries under a cloak of “piety”. There is no “one size fits all” weapon against evil. We can vote. We can speak in public forums. We can volunteer for those who support our views and advocate them as our representatives. We can write articles for others to consider. We can admonish and reprimand when pastors chose a path of demurrer instead of personal courage. The roman collar deserves the respect due that office; but that office does not justify our acquiescence or silence when the greater dignity and mission of Jesus Christ is compromised by their fear or cowardice. The world is the only forum and boundary for this great battle: this is where the Church’s spiritual effectiveness must – and will ever be – objectively measured. All converts come from that world outside the Church. When the Church no longer engages that world effectively or persuasively; when it no longer offers the uncompromising contrast of an AFFIRMATIVE confrontation, it fails to function as an “Ark”. Blessings to you, my sister! Fondly, Mike

  3. Excellent Article. There will be either a restoration through Our Lord’s intervention or the Church will be much much smaller.

    Though what this church looks like may be very different from what we would expect. Take for example what is going on with the Vatican and the Chinese Church right now. Will there be a time in our own lands when there is an official government approved Catholicism and marginalized (or even hunted) orthodox one?

    A lot of folks would be fine with an edited version of Catholicism more compatible with secular values. The lack of unity is so bad it is almost as though we believe in different God/gods. Bishop A says one thing and Bishop B says another. So which one is of Our Lord?

    “Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4

    Sounds like the Early Christians and subsequent Saints are pretty deplorable to about 50% of the populace. Interesting times.

    1. Thank you for your comments Drew. As of this morning, the immediate threat against religious principals is greatly abated – but not completely. The greatest threat comes from within – not without. Remember, the betrayal of Christ was precipitated by Judas – not Pontius. The election results confirm that most Americans opposed continuing this radical departure from God’s guidance. I take comfort in that. It now enables us to strengthen our Christian principles and actions – by working toward unity, forgiveness and obedience within. Blessings, Mike.

  4. A Church that imposes no ecclesial consequences for dissent will necessarily be unable to witness to Christ because it will be hopelessly divided. That’s the bottom line. The Church desperately needs to insist that its members actually believe its teachings and do their best to follow them, or get out. Unfortunately, Pope Francis is taking us in the exact opposite direction – toward a Church that never insists on anything and never imposes any ecclesial consequences on anyone.

    1. I don’t know BX, the author sounds like one of those stuffy Americans who go to Europe and expects everyone to speak English.

  5. “I believe strongly that the Roman Catholic Church primarily – and our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters secondarily – will be held accountable for this breathtaking loss of goodness. Maybe I’ve just been reading too much of Jeremiah and Ezekiel lately.”

    “The grass is always greener in the other fellows yard, the little rose that we have to hose, oh boy that’s hard but if we all could wear green glasses now it wouldn’t be so hard to see how green that grass is in our own back yard.” Big Brother Bob Emory
    Ya, its the OT for sure. Stick with the gospels.

  6. Mike- In this excellent article you have described thousands of democrat-front social justice businesses across America and the USSA. They were once called “Catholic parishes”. Now they are profit-and-loss centers with hirelings, not pastors, and wolves, not bishops.

    The number 60,000,000 jumps out at me from your fine article-60,000,000 Catholics here and also about 60,000,000 Americans killed since Roe by their mamas, many by the eugenics enforcement arm of the Party Of Death, Planned Parenthood, promoted by the studied silence of the hirelings and wolves in Roman collars and waiving croziers; about half of them black and hispanic babies who will never vote, or vote twice, in any election. Will the absolute contra-Jesus mercy of the Mercy Bullies be their get-out-of-hell free card?

    Tomorrow about 3800 more babies who today are safe in their mothers’ wombs will be murdered, with the tacit involvement of all those who today vote for democrats, and the aid and abetting of the traitors to the children, all those “reverends” and “excellencies” , now the sacerdotal Branch Managers and episcopal CEOs of the social justice busine$$es, upon whom hands were laid to serve us and lead us home to Jesus. You know, the ones who have now paid out over $2,000,000,000.00 of our money to cover up their perversions.

    My wife and I echoed your fine article for the last few weeks here in San Antonio, leaving Mass after Mass where not even the “seamless garment” lie was told. Deafening silence on voting, nothing was said because the utter demonic evil of Hillary and the democrats of the Party Of Death is undeniable – and of course to speak of the possibility of Trump being or acting prolife would cost the Party Of Death votes. Guy McClung, San Antonio, Texas

    And in the streets the children screamed
    The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
    But not a word was spoken
    The church bells all were broken
    And the three men I admire most
    The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
    They caught the last train for the coast
    The day the music died
    And they were singin’

    1. Guy – thank you for your kind comments all the way from San Antonio. This morning we have the confirmation for which we offer thanks. We may have been cured of cancer only to get bit by a rabid dog, but time will tell. A LOT of novenas and the decency of common Americans confounded the media bias and left them unreconciled to their own credibility. We’re not out of the woods yet: the country is split and there is a vast divide between perspectives. Evil will not die quietly. Keep praying. God Bless and Best Regards! Mike

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