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Today Jesus reaffirms the duty of all of us to obey civil authority. The Pharisees and the Herodians attempted to lay a trap with their question: Should they pay taxes to Caesar or not? If Jesus would say yes, they would accuse Him of collaborating with the oppressive Romans. But if He would oppose the tax, the Herodians would have grounds to denounce the Romans. And so Our Lord said, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Cesar, and to God what belongs to God.” In another words, Jesus told them to give to Cesar what rightfully belongs to him: tribute, and obedience to just laws, but nothing more.
However, if a human law contradicts divine law or natural law, it is no law at all. If we don’t fight against laws that harm the innocent, we can actually participate in the sin.
Some say Christians and the Church should not get involved in politics. But this is false. Actually Christians have a duty and an obligation to be involved in politics. When Jesus said “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”, He was not advocating to stay out of politics. Christians should help mold society to respect life, to encourage the common good, to protect religious freedom and to not allow government to abuse their authority.
Christians can morally disagree with each other and still be in good standing in the Church on political matters of prudential judgment such as the economy, immigration, borders, taxes, global warming, etc.. However, Christians must agree with the Church teachings on matters of intrinsically evil actions: abortion, cloning, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia are never under any circumstance acceptable. These actions not only harm individuals, they harm society. A Christian may never vote for a candidate who is in favor of these intrinsically evil actions, while the other candidate is pro-life, otherwise one can commit a grievous sin requiring confession before receiving Holy Communion. Abortion is by far the greatest and most important issue, because life is the foundation everything else-- as nearly 12 million children die in the USA every year.
Here are 6 ways a person can participate in the sin of others.
1. The first way is by Command. During World War II, Nazis commanded soldiers to follow orders. When the war was over, Nazi soldiers said we had no choice, we were commanded to kill. But at the Nuremburg trials, these soldiers were condemned to death, because they participated in the sins of their superiors. A nurse cannot say, I was commanded by the doctor to help perform an abortion. She cannot in conscience assist in one.
2. Counsel. If a Catholic social worker counsels a young girl to get an abortion or if a Catholic priest counsels a couple saying they can use contraception. They participate in the sin of others.
3. Consent. Some Catholic politicians say they personally oppose abortion, but vote in favor of it and therefore give their consent. We think of people like Kathleen Sibelius, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Laura Kelly all of whom are Catholic, but promote abortion. And those who vote for pro-abortion candidates, while the other candidate is pro-life, consent to not preventing abortion.
4. Another way to participate in sin is provocation—by praise and flattery. Some Catholic Universities such as Georgetown and Notre Dame invited pro-abortion commencement speakers and gave them awards.
5. Silence. Cardinals, bishops and priests by silence, participate in the sin of others by not raising their voices in the pulpits to help people to know how to vote against intrinsic evils. When Catholics do not let their voices by heard by failing to contact legislators and failing to vote against intrinsically evil actions, they participate in the sin of another.
6. Concealment. When bishops cover up or hide the fact that clergy abused children and moved priests from parish to parish, they participate in sin. We think about Cardinal McCarrick and how his actions were concealed and hidden by Church leaders.
We cannot participate in sin by command, counsel, consent, provocation, conceal, nor be silent in the political or non-political world, otherwise we participate in the sins of others. We need to be involved in society, so as to help others. We are to love our neighbor as our self. We are obliged to vote and be involved in politics.
God pays attention to our every action and wants to be part of every action, including voting for those who represent us in government. God wants to bring about a culture of life. God wants human beings to love each other and live in harmony with each other in solidarity united around principles that protect and encourage the common good.
If you have had an abortion or know of someone who has had an abortion, remember, God is a God of mercy and forgiveness. All of us can make mistakes, but by God’s grace, we are bigger than our mistakes and our sins. God forgives and wants to heal our broken and wounded hearts. He loves us with an everlasting love. On our part, we do the best we can to help others not make the same mistakes. We can get involved in helping promote the beauty of life and by this way, we find healing.
May we vote for life because innocent lives depend upon it. The mother’s womb should be the safest place on earth, but for 12 million* children in the USA, it’s a tomb. May the Virgin Mary, whose womb was a safe place for the unborn Jesus, pray for our nation, that we may truly live as disciples of Her Son and not be afraid to stand up for the smallest of humans-- the unborn.
*(11 million chemical and 862,000 surgical) American Life League
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