October 17, 2008
Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’
<http://www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=16247>http://www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=16247
Judgment Day is on its way
by Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator
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Judgment Day is on its way. We cannot stop it. We
don’t know when it will come, but just as surely
as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.
Judgment Day is on its way. For many, this coming
election may very well be judgment day, for this
election will measure us. In the Gospel of
Matthew, Jesus tells us in 10:32-33: "Everyone
who acknowledges Me before others, I will
acknowledge before My heavenly Father. But
whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."
Judgment Day is on its way. When my time comes, I
will be measured by my Savior for the decisions I
have made. I will either be acknowledged by Jesus
or denied by Him in the presence of our heavenly
Father. The question I need to ask myself is
this: What kind of witness will I give to Him
when I go into the voting booth this election day?
The decision I make in the voting booth will
reflect my value system. If I value the good of
the economy and my current lifestyle more than I
do the right to life itself, then I am in
trouble. Pope John Paul II, in his post-synodal
apostolic exhortation Christifideles laici tells
us: "Above all, the common outcry, which is
justly made on behalf of human rights for
example, the right to health, to home, to work,
to family, to culture is false and illusory if
the right to life, the most basic and fundamental
right and the condition for all other personal
rights, is not defended with maximum determination."
The right of our children to be protected from
destruction is greater than my right to a
thriving economy. I am living proof of this,
since I am here because my parents believed this
priority and lived it. My desire for a good
economy cannot justify my voting to remove all
current restrictions on abortion. My desire to
end the war in Iraq cannot justify my voting to
remove all current restrictions on abortion.
My parents got married about one year before the
stock market crash of 1929, and yet they raised
15 children in the midst of the Great Depression.
They had no money. My mother made her own wedding
gown and her own bouquet of flowers. I have my
parents’ wedding picture on the wall of my
office, and I am reminded every day of the sacrifices they made for life.
We had no money, but we had each other! My
parents were at home with us for three meals
every day. We had plenty to eat because we raised
almost all of our food. We seldom got new
clothes, but we wore hand-me-downs, unless my
mother would buy materials and make our clothes.
We lived in poverty, but we learned the value of
hard work. We had no running water or
electricity. We had no TV, Internet or cell
phone. Yet, we were very happy because we had
life! We had each other! Today, all 15 children
in my family of origin are most grateful for the
sacrifices Mom and Dad made so that we could have
life. Making sacrifices for each other brought us
incredible joy and enhanced our dignity, because
it gave us a chance to participate in serving each other!
In an article written by Pope John Paul I,
printed in the current issue of Magnificat, the
pope reflected on the life of Andrew Carnegie,
who wrote: "I was born in poverty ... but I would
not exchange the memories of my childhood with
those of a millionaire’s children. What do they
know of family joys, of the sweet figure of a
mother who combines the duties of nurse,
washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel and saint?"
Does life get any better than this, when gifts of
creativity, generosity and faith are nurtured in
the midst of poverty? This is the abundant life
on this earth, because it is fueled by faith and
sacrifice! Perhaps this is not so much poverty as it is faith-filled luxury.
Judgment Day for us is on its way. Those 47
million children our nation destroyed are still
living. We have destroyed their bodies, but their
souls are still alive. When our Lord comes again,
they may very well be there to judge us. Even
worse, Jesus tells us that whatever we do to the
least of our brethren, we do to Him. We would
truly shudder if we heard the words, "I was in
your my mother’s womb but you took my life!"
It is quite possible that we might see these
children, but, depending upon the choices we have
made, we may very well be separated from them by
a great chasm which cannot be crossed, much as
the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor man,
during his lifetime here on earth but was
separated from him after death. The rich man was
in flames, but Lazarus was in the bosom of his heavenly Father.
The Catholic Church teaches, in its catechism, in
the works of Pope John Paul II and in the
writings of Pope Benedict XVI, that the issue of
life is the most basic issue and must be given
priority over the issue of the economy, the issue
of war or any other issue. These same teachings
inform us that when both candidates permit the
right to abortion, but unequally so, we must
chose to mitigate the evil by choosing the
candidate who is less permissive of abortion.
Judgment Day is on its way! I may deny it. I may
pretend that it is still far away, I may deny
that my actions are sinful, but that will not change God’s judgment of me.
The deepest problem with many of our Catholics is
that they have become so accustomed to
rationalizing away a life of sinful actions so
that they seem to be on cruise control, heading
in the wrong direction. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
My goal is not to engage you in some political
party way but to engage you with our Savior and
His teachings. We need to constantly challenge
our accustomed behaviors in the light of the
Gospel. We may say that we are following our
conscience, but are we informing our consciences
with the truth about these issues? Cardinal
George Pell of Australia has said that we must
follow truth and our conscience, but be steeped
in truth so that our consciences be rightly formed.
Perhaps having to face these issues during this
coming election can turn out to be a grace that
truly awakens our need to learn more about the
teachings of the Catholic Church, and then to use
the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can
receive His mercy and bring our behavior into
conformity with the mind and heart of Christ. It
is not too late to admit our sinfulness and turn
to the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
When we do this, both we and the heavens will be filled with joy!
Judgment Day is on its way. Pray your way into
conformity with the teachings of Christ and His
Church. Pray the family Rosary daily between now
and Election Day so that you may not only make
the right choice but also have the courage to
discuss these issues with others who may have
been misled by our materialistic culture. Include
the candidates in your prayer intentions. It is
my hope that our discussions will bring all of us
to our knees to seek help from above.
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Lord, may everything we do begin with Your
inspiration and continue with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom! Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the
Kingdom! Main Site <*}}}>< <*}}}><
<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your
inspiration and continue with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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