Great reflection! Christ prayed for us to be one. However, as Church history has borne out, division does occur (just look at the rifts created in the defining the Holy Trinity) but must always lead to honest discourse, led by the Holy Spirit, and ultimate unity. Faith is not politics. Whenever the two get mixed up ... beware! Evil, by its nature seeks division. Love always seeks unity.
Mar 16, 2023Liked by Jonathon T. Fessenden, Thomas R. Fessenden, Chantal LaFortune
And yes, Martin is right. Let us pray for Pope Francis and the Church🙏🕊But instead of praying change Pope Francis or change the Church in such and such ways, we should place the Pope, the Church and those who both agree and disagree with the Pope into Jesus hands, and pray "not will my will but thy will be done"🙏🕊
I believe that our core moral and religious values influence the direction of our political values. Catholics-in-name-only tend towards the left. Those who are more serious about their Catholicism tend to be politically conservative. We see this same pattern among Protestants. I believe that those who are closest to Christ will have greater unity among each other.
I think this begs the question of who we are serving? The church or the state? We know both of these political parties have issues and problematic people inside of them but on a whole what group has policies that are closer to the Church's values? I feel you have addressed this with a sincere answer. May I ask what is your response when someone says "yeah but the Church and the State should be separated?"
Mar 16, 2023Liked by Jonathon T. Fessenden, Thomas R. Fessenden
The Church and the State are separated, but you can’t separate people’s values from their politics: and they vote accordingly. Serving Christ needs to be viewed as something that is above serving the Church and the State because you can serve both without serving Christ: and many do. This implies that there is a personal Catholicism that we adhere to as well as our participation in the organization.
I don’t think politicians should separate their religious values from how they legislate. In fact, I think they should more or less stay true to their sincere beliefs because that’s the person who is elected to office. Of course, some will say that they must be representative of their constituents--and that’s true! BUT. And this is a big but...voters need to take on the responsibility of who they vote into office. If the voters vote in a Catholic, well don’t be shocked they act like a Catholic. The same with Muslim, Anglican, Buddhist, atheist, etc.
Revelation 3:16 - The lukewarm will be spit out of his mouth.
You can’t have a foot in both camps.
Thanks for writing this!
Great reflection! Christ prayed for us to be one. However, as Church history has borne out, division does occur (just look at the rifts created in the defining the Holy Trinity) but must always lead to honest discourse, led by the Holy Spirit, and ultimate unity. Faith is not politics. Whenever the two get mixed up ... beware! Evil, by its nature seeks division. Love always seeks unity.
Very true.
And yes, Martin is right. Let us pray for Pope Francis and the Church🙏🕊But instead of praying change Pope Francis or change the Church in such and such ways, we should place the Pope, the Church and those who both agree and disagree with the Pope into Jesus hands, and pray "not will my will but thy will be done"🙏🕊
I believe that our core moral and religious values influence the direction of our political values. Catholics-in-name-only tend towards the left. Those who are more serious about their Catholicism tend to be politically conservative. We see this same pattern among Protestants. I believe that those who are closest to Christ will have greater unity among each other.
I think this begs the question of who we are serving? The church or the state? We know both of these political parties have issues and problematic people inside of them but on a whole what group has policies that are closer to the Church's values? I feel you have addressed this with a sincere answer. May I ask what is your response when someone says "yeah but the Church and the State should be separated?"
The Church and the State are separated, but you can’t separate people’s values from their politics: and they vote accordingly. Serving Christ needs to be viewed as something that is above serving the Church and the State because you can serve both without serving Christ: and many do. This implies that there is a personal Catholicism that we adhere to as well as our participation in the organization.
I don’t think politicians should separate their religious values from how they legislate. In fact, I think they should more or less stay true to their sincere beliefs because that’s the person who is elected to office. Of course, some will say that they must be representative of their constituents--and that’s true! BUT. And this is a big but...voters need to take on the responsibility of who they vote into office. If the voters vote in a Catholic, well don’t be shocked they act like a Catholic. The same with Muslim, Anglican, Buddhist, atheist, etc.
I agree. Whether they are religious or otherwise, the politicians who are elected also vote according to their values when voting for legislation.
Bravo to you Jonathan! Very well said!!
Agree. Agree. Agree. Prayers for Pope Francis and unity with the Church 🙏🙏🙏