“Every country has the government it deserves.” – Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821)

“As the people’s judge, so the officials; as the head of a city, so the inhabitants. A reckless king destroys his people, but a city grows through the intelligence of its princes. Sovereignty over the earth is in the hand of God, who appoints the right person for the right time.” – Sirach 10:2–4

Besides life, the most precious treasure we have as human beings is our freedom. God gives us free will because he loves us, and love can never be imposed. The Creator endowed us with intelligence to discover the truth and to choose it with all our hearts.

If we are unhappy with the leadership in our countries and institutions, we must not forget that in democratic countries like ours, we have been the ones who elected those leaders, and therefore we are largely responsible for what we do not like; perhaps we are even ashamed.

As believers, we have an obligation to vote for leaders according to our Catholic moral principles and Catholic social teachings, enlightened by our faith in the leader we have chosen as the baptized: Jesus Christ. We don’t deserve such a sublime governor; regardless, he trusts our vote.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This sentence is in the Declaration of Independence written by the founders of this nation.

As we mature as citizens and Christians, we must exercise our responsibility to build societies with the values, principles and teachings of our supreme leader, Christ, and delegate this task to the leaders for whom we vote. The consequence of this decision is that we have to cast out everything that is contrary to that election. If we vote for justice, we have to cast out unfairness. If we vote for purity, we have to cast out what makes our lives dirty. If we vote for life, we have to cast out what produces death. If we vote for freedom, we must cast out all slavery.

We the baptized are chosen by God to build a civilization of love. It is a slow process, with areas still in darkness. Our common Creator respects the freedom that he himself created, until we decide to act in the light of our reason, always risking being wrong.

Mary, Joseph and all the holy men and women throughout Christianity have voted for the values ​​of Jesus Christ and have cast out from their lives everything that prevented them from fully embracing him as the only leader who always keeps his promises. Those who vote for Jesus will have to cast out many things, but will never be disappointed. As voters, let us proclaim like Mary the wonders of our election.

Northwest Catholic - November 2020