National Reckoning

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” 

Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.” (Luke 17:20-25)

For many of us we expect the Kingdom of God to be heaven where we hope we eventually will reside.  Of course, this expectation flies in the face of our Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

We pray for the Kingdom of God to come to earth, and now, not later.  That simply happens when we act to do God’s will in our every day lives.  Our behavior is paramount, and Pope Francis has addressed that behavior.  

The November issue of America Magazine has an editorial (Our Take) titled “’Fratelli Tutti’ Is a Challenge to Our National Conscience.”  The editorial concluded: “Surely the United States has done much that is good in the world.  But all this is for nothing without a national reckoning with the political and spiritual crisis that has befallen us. “Fratelli Tutti,’ read during an election year, is a reminder that Catholic social teaching offers a profound challenge to the national conscience – but also contains the seeds of national conversion.  

During the presidential candidacy of John F. Kennedy, voters fretted that Rome would infiltrate the top levels of our government.  Now, one presidential candidate proudly touts his Catholic faith while embracing policies that ignore some core Catholic moral teachings; the other proclaims himself a champion of Catholic values but would likely reject most of the pope’s encyclical.  And yet Americans – including American Catholics – do not seem worried that Catholicism’s influence will upend their way of doing things.  In ‘Fratelli Tutti,’ the pope has sent a reminder: Perhaps we all should be.”  

Of note, on election day morning Joe Biden and his family went to Mass and visited his son's grave.  Trump went on Fox News.  Behavior counts.

Deacon David Pierce