The readings from this, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, begin with the lament of the prophet Habakkuk: “destruction and violence are before me, strife and contention arise”.
The readings then take us to St. Paul, who advises St. Timothy, “God did not give us the spirit of cowardice”, asking that he “hold to the standard of sound teaching”. We conclude with the Gospel of Luke, where the apostles plead with Jesus, “Increase our faith!”
Let us spend some time together on these words of Holy Scripture, keeping in mind the sound teaching that needs to be explored. We do so in the context of the fact that very soon, Canadians will be offered the opportunity to participate in the federal election.
Some years ago, bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, who is now bishop emeritus, made a statement, maybe not in these exact words, but with the following message – when choosing our leaders, when choosing who to vote for we are to look beyond a person’s charm. In other words, people may be personally charming, they may be very affable human beings, pleasant to be around – but, at the same time, these same people at times stand for principles that go against the true dignity of the human person.
Our Canadian bishops have asked us to consider the following, when deciding who to vote for. You’ll also find this text in the bulletin. The bishops write, “The principles of respect for life from conception to natural death and of the dignity of the human person should influence how Christians assess a party’s position on key moral issues. Choosing life also means being always concerned for the weakest among us – physically, economically, and socially. It likewise implies the protection of the most fundamental human rights, including the right to religious freedom and freedom of conscience” (Voting as Catholics - 2019 Federal Election Guide, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Permanent Council).
Where do the parties, where do the candidates stand on these issues? Where do they stand on abortion and euthanasia? Respect for life is first and foremost, because if someone does not have the ability to be born, all other possibilities are rendered null and void. When a child is killed in the womb, all the plans that God had for him or her, all the possibilities, all the relationships that that person could have enjoyed, all the people that that person could have impacted in life, all these things come to an abrupt end. In a similar way, when someone dies by euthanasia, the value of those last days, of preparing for death, of slowly passing, of preparing to cross into life eternal, all this is mercilessly cut short.
After respect for life follows concern for the weakest, as well as an emphasis on religious freedom and freedom of conscience. Not just freedom of worship – freedom of worship basically means that you are free to exercise your religion, but only inside the four walls of a church, or in your private home. The Polish constitution, enacted in 1952 under communism guaranteed freedom of “wyznanie”, or confession, while the current constitution, from 1997, guarantees freedom of religion. We need religious freedom: this is the ability to act on one’s religious beliefs in the public square – at work, at school, in media, at the ballot box. Religious freedom also means the ability to push back against an ideology that seeks to “promote a personal identity and emotional intimacy radically separated from the biological difference between male and female”, and that “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman” (Male and Female He Created Them, Congregation for Catholic Education, 2, 2019).
My brothers and sisters, as we fight the good fight of the faith, we seek to do without being quarrelsome; as we hold to the standard of sound teaching – we need to ask the Lord, just like the Apostles did, to “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5-10). In this, we ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the one who in the early days of the Church, brought concord and peace to Christians. As Lumen Gentium from Vatican II states, “The entire body of the faithful pours forth instant supplications to the Mother of God and Mother of men that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people, whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the Saviour, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one people of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity” (Lumen Gentium, 69).
Faith is the assurance of things not seen, and ultimately, we do not know exactly how much our prayers, our words of encouragement, our marturein – or witnessing – or our Rosaries will affect the course of events. The precise extent of that impact will only be revealed to us in the next life. In these days, like the prophet Habbakuk, we try to patiently wait for the appointed time, when the Lord will act decisively. As we wait, we know that we have a small part to play in preparing the ground for the appointed time, as in the way that we choose our political leaders.
In this patient waiting, we have the assurance of the presence of Our Lady, whom we honour in this month of the Holy Rosary.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Oct. 6, 2019)