I decided to resurrect this feature because of the readings and the proximity to the election. Given that the First Reading concerned God’s use of the Persian King Cyrus to do His will and that the Gospel was the “render unto Caesar” passage from Matthew, I wondered if any preachers (Catholic or not – since the Gospel was the same in the common lectionary) out there made political references in their homilies/sermons.
And if there’s any overwhelming, obvious political climate in your church these days..pass that along, too.
No, and I was hoping to hear something…we got an explanation of Christian Formation and a plea for catechists…important? Yes, but not the makings of a complete homily, I think.
http://printedaspreached.blogspot.com/
Go read what Father Cávana Wallace at St. Margaret’s, Oceanside CA has to say….
From his blog:
“These homilies are first and foremost for the parishioners of St. Margaret’s. They were written to be preached, listened to and reflected upon in the context of the Holy Eucharist being celebrated. The Fathers of the Church through use of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church provide a solid foundation towards reflecting on the Sunday Gospel.”
Blessed Sacrament, Alexandria, Virginia
Put God first. Know what your priorities are and put God first. Whatever anxieties one might have with the economy or with serving in the military in times of war, put God first.
And cherish and defend life, from the moment of conception.
Faith, hope, and love are all that lasts; do stuff every day to increase them. (Similar to something Fr. Pacwa said the other day.) Making yourself more an image of God and giving yourself to Him — good. Missions — good. New coadjutor archbishop — good. (Respect Life banner — still up.)
Please pray for our pastor, who is in the hospital having tests for chest pains.
Archbishop Hughes in New Orleans took a powerful stand in his homily this morning. I am visiting the Crescent City and attended the 11 am Mass at the Cathedral. The Archbishop began his homily with the story of St. Thomas More: He statement at his death, that he was the King’s faithful servant, but God’s first, and More’s response to his daughter’s request before he was beheaded that he change his mind to save his life, “Then perhaps it’s time to take a stand, even at the risk of being heroes.” Archbishop Hughes instructed that, yes, we do have an obligation to our civil government, but we also have a higher calling and an obligation to God to protect life and not participate in intrinsic evil. He then listed the all the evils at issue in this election: abortion, euthanasia, assisted-suicide, ESCR, etc., and instructed that as Catholics and Christians we must take a stand and vote according the our obligations to God. Very powerful. I am glad that many Bishops are getting backbones thee days. How are the faithful to be courageous and take principled stands if our shepherds does not lift us up and fail to proclaim that which they are called to proclaim?
Amy
I notice that my comment is “awaiting moderation.” After re-reading it, perhaps it should be “awaiting spellcheck,” too!
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Atlanta
The homilist, a Spanish speaking canon lawyer in residence in our parish, did a fantastic job. He gave the context of the gospel reading – the last week of Christ’s life, following three parables. In his words, it was like a championship game where the score was Christ 3 Pharisees 0. He explained how the Pharisees, not wanting to concede the game, joined up with the Herodians, even though the two sides did not care for each other, and they set the Q as a trap for Jesus – his answer was bound to be for one side or the other, and would be against either Jewish teaching or the Roman law.
He explained Jesus’ response, told of the special coins for the tax that has Caesar’s image on them. He then reminded us that we ourselves bear the image of God, as we were made in His image. Therefore, we owe God ourselves (even though we legitimately pay to the state the required taxes).
No politics in the homily, but the prayers of the faithful contained lots that reminded us to form our consciences, and to hold to a “consistent ethic of life”.
My pastor did speak of the upcoming election during his homily today. The most amazing part was when he talked about King Cyrus who, though nice to the Jews was not a Jew, however in the first reading it shows that God can use whom ever he wants to for his glory. Our pastor then went on to say that this does not give us the go ahead to vote for whoever we want but it does mean that we should pray for all the candidates and that if they are brought into office that they do all for the greater good of God’s Kingdom.
He also talked about the Gospel and how it says “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” He said that after Saturday night mass one of the parishioners came up to him and said that he needed his envelope back from mass, because he was pretty sure that the picture on it was not God’s, but my witty pastor came back quickly with “Yeah but it says IN GOD WE TRUST on it”. Probably better off if you hear it but it does go to show that from the very beginning of our nation we put our Trust in God and this is what we have to do now.
God Bless
I live in northern California in the suburbs of Sacramento. My husband and I have been heartened to see our bishops and local parishes taking a strong stand in favor of Proposition 8, which seeks to restore the traditional definition of marriage in California. We’ve been discouraged, though, at how many Christians here — lay Catholics and, surprisingly, Protestant evangelicals — actually seem either indifferent to it or outright opposed.
Last week, when the deacon preached against the idea of gay marriage, the lady in the pew next to me clucked and sighed.
The same parish displays a huge “Yes on Prop 8″ banner and was giving away small lawn signs last week. Hardly anyone was taking them.
And the diocesan newspaper is full of letters about we should reject Prop 8 because it hurts the feelings of gays and lesbians.
I understand those sensitivities, and I know it is tempting to be guided by them. But how do we get Catholics to see that what society defines as compassion is not what Christ defines as compassion — and to actually CARE about that difference?
Two homilies, different preachers. The first quoted extensively from Archbishop Chaput’s speech and made it very clear that abortion was a grave evil and that other social ills did not come up to the same level of urgency. He also stated that anyone who knowingly voted for a pro-abortion candidate was also committing a sin. There was also mention of FOCA and its consequences.
The second homily focused on marriage and included a reading of the Florida Bishops’ statement on Amendment 2 in its entirety. The homilist then continued to expand on the nature of intimacy and fecundity in Christian marriage.
Both were far better than I expected to hear from my perch on the organ bench up in the loft.
Conservative Lutheran church, located in Michigan.
Homily was “letters to and from John the Baptist” — a look at how John the Baptist might advise a well-meaning Christian in the modern day. Firm indictment of lukewarm Christian living, with strong political undertones about voting for issues and candidates that are in line with clear scriptural teachings on life issues and moral living. Very engaging approach. Prayers of the church done, as usual, with pastor ad orientem.
(And one of the communion hymns was “Gifts of Finest Wheat” … followed by a Bible Study on Holy Land sites.)
SS. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic in Ft. Pierce, FL
The Gospel today was Lazarus and the Rich Man.
The pastor, Fr. Mike, made three main points: the existence of heaven and hell; that life is not about what you have, but about loving the life you have; and the absurdity of bargaining with God. All nicely done…..and closely tied to the text.
Some of the best Eastern Catholic singing I’ve experienced, even though the congregation is small (about 30 at Liturgy this morning).
If this church weren’t 90 minutes away, I’d go every Sunday.
The vicar for clergy in Los Angeles was the guest homilist at my parish in North Hollywood, CA, for the 10 am liturgy. He gave a great homily that incorporated all three of the readings, starting with St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, making the point about the need for all of us, clergy and laypeople, to preach to Gospel in “power and the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”
He went on to the first reading to talk about how God shows his supreme power by being able to take even the most unfavorable circumstances and turn them to His glory.
The rest of the homily focused on Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and Herodians. After setting up the context so that we understood why both groups wanted to trip Jesus up, and the clever dilemma that they were posing to him, he did an extended meditation on Jesus’ response. The basic gist was that the coin bore the image of Caesar, and thus belonged to Caesar, but that in Genesis, we learn that we bear another image — the image and likeness of the Creator — and thus we belong to Him.
He closed the homily by saying that we face important decisions as believers in the upcoming elections, and that we need to meditate more deeply on what it means to belong to Him as we prepare to go to the polls.
The church bulletin this weekend had a one-page insert prepared by the Catholic bishops of California, with simple, direct talking points regarding Proposition 8. Here was the main text:
“We must support traditional marriage as the source of our civilization, the foundation for a society that can be home to all human beings, and the reflection of our relationship with God.” (Statement of the California Catholic bishops, August 1, 2008)
YES on PROPOSITION 8
The text of Proposition 8 is simply: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” A YES vote on Proposition 8 does three things:
1) restores the definition of marriage in California. God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator.
2) overturns the decision of the California Supreme Court. On May 15, 2008 the Court ruled that to deny marriage to individuals of the same sex was unconstitutional. This radical change discounts the biological reality of marriage, how deeply embedded it is in our culture, language and law and redefines it to just mean a contractual agreement of partnership.
3) secures parental rights to reach children about marriage. If the Supreme Court ruling stands, public schools may have to teach that there is no difference between traditional marriage and ‘gay marriage.’
A YES vote on Proposition 8 DOES NOT take away any rights or benefits from gay or lesbian domestic partners. Under California’s domestic partners law (Family Code 297.5) they have rights and benefits identical to those of spouses.
Yes, we did hear the gospel reading tied into the upcoming election. Similar to Bishop Hughes in N.O., the priest drew out the point that, if we don’t have life outside the womb, all the other issues are mute. So he tried to connect the dots for folks who don’t or can’t do that. If every Catholic pewsitter would just do that, unborn babies would finally have a voice.
Northern Virginia–we had very strong homilies for a couple of weeks concerning election issues, which brought the right to life to the fore, quoting the letter from the Kansas bishops. The congregation was generally quite happy with them. This week’s was much less explicitly pointed at the election, although our pastor did make a strong point against the mistake of thinking the “render to Caesar …” meant that there were two separate realms, one–the spiritual, interior, ethereal realm–was God’s and the other–the material, exterior, practical, secular realm–was Caesar’s. Rather, through the material, too, God’s image is present, and it is through ordering everything, even the “secular,” toward Him that salvation comes. If it is not so ordered, then we misuse it, no matter whether it is a tax payment, or a vote, or whatever.
Diocese of Lansing, Michigan
Father did mention Proposal 2, a ballot proposal here in Michigan that would allow embryonic stem cell research. The proposal has been mentioned every Sunday at Mass for the last three or four weeks. The bulletin is full of good information, and our bishops conference sent out a mass mailing regarding the proposal, as well as a prayer card.
More broadly, the Prayers of the Faithful included prayers that our elected leaders would protect the unborn, the elderly, etc.
Christ the King Cathedral, Lexington, KY
The Deacon preached the homily – definitely focusing on “render unto Ceasar” – he had us take money out of our pockets, look at the picture, hold it up next to the large Crucifix over the altar and asked us in whom we put our allegiance. In Jesus of course. He then went on to talk about faithful citizenship, informed consciences, etc. – not a hint of endorsement – very straightforward, very fair. Came back at the end to bring home that we belong to God and that it is to Him that we owe our allegiance.
Holy Rosary Church, Gary IN, Diocese of Gary
The homily preached started with putting God first. Then Father explained the basic differences between the Herodians and the Pharisees, their verbal trap, and that Jesus’ answer/response was “clever.”
San Francisco Bay Area – I saw some “yes on 8″ (to define marriage as between a man & a woman) signs outside as entered the building. I was surprised and pleased.
Then the homily. Yes, it was about politics. It was a tap dancing sort of homily. He wasn’t going to tell us how to vote, but please read the Bishops’ document and prayerfully discern the right thing to do. There are intrinsic evils. There aren’t any ‘Catholic approved’ candidates. Consider the teachings of the Church and form your conscience and vote accordingly.
And BTW, the local bishop (I think he said) forbade electioneering on church property so the signs seen outside were to go.
I’m with Becky up above: I understand those sensitivities, and I know it is tempting to be guided by them. But how do we get Catholics to see that what society defines as compassion is not what Christ defines as compassion — and to actually CARE about that difference? I don’t know the answer and everything I do think of sounds glib when I imagine actually saying it to someone who is really hurting. But the question she raises is a good part of the problem.
Catholic Church in Virginia – Our pastor mentioned that we should vote, and not step out of the election – vote for the lesser of two evils. He made mention of abortion, and gave examples of persons throughout history who won elections by ONE vote. In other words, if we step out of this election, the greater “evil” may win, and more children will be killed in the womb. We all got the message without Father mentioning names.
A combination of Mission Sunday, Called by Name Sunday (First Communion preparation) and beatification of Louis and Zelie. Parish priest brought the threads together fairly well I thought.
Philadelphia – No mention of anything political. It was Mission Sunday and we had a missionary speaking.
At one point, the priest spoke about how babies and small children who die are often left in garbage pits. There was a collective gasp of disgust from the entire congregation. My only thought was, How many of these folks are getting ready to elect a President who was willing to leave newborns in “soiled utility closets” to die because they were not wanted?
I did recently have a short conversation with my pastor about the election and he pointed out that neither party has the moral high ground since the Republicans went to war on trumped up charges (I’m paraphrasing here).
So much for the intrinsic evil argument.
St. Mary, Mother of God in Washington DC.
Father gave a splendid homily which began by recounting the story of St. Isaac Jogues, whose memorial it would have been had it not been trumped by Sunday, and tied that in to Mission Sunday. He even described St. Isaac’s gruesome sufferings. He quoted St. Isaac, something to the effect that we should give everything we have to God. This folded neatly into the Gospel reading. He wound up specifically condemning “any candidate” who endorses abortion, seeks to make it a civil right, etc.
It was quite a piece of work, and very encouraging to see this from such a young man.
A young associate priest, ordained about three years, gave the homily at the cathedral, here in Duluth–Bishop Schnurr’s former diocese.
It was about “render unto Caesar…”. He stressed that the right to life is the foundational right, without which, all other rights are in jeopardy. He also said that if the Church’s proclamation goes against a party platform, that’s the party’s problem, not the Church’s.
At an earlier weekday Mass, the same priest told the congreation that someone had left a voice mail, complaining about a 40-Days For Life sign on the cathedral lawn. (“It’s political.”) He telephoned back and left a voice mail, explaing that the signs simply said, “Pray and fast to end abortion.” He then went out and put two more signs on the lawn.
There is a small, but vocal number of well-healed, fur-coated types at the cathedral with “Obama” stickers on their cars. I’m sure they’ll be contacting the rectory, if they haven’t already.
St. Timothy – Northern Virginia
We had a great pro-life homily concerning the virtue of justice as it relates to the laws of our country. The priest mentioned that this virtue of justice compels us to follow just laws but reject unjust laws. He closed by mentioning that there will be no political messiah that can solve our problems as those can be solved only by our true Messiah – Jesus Christ.
I have heard 3 homilies in a row that have had a pro-life theme by two different priests. The same priest gave the first two and said in the second homily that someone wrote to him after the first saying they wouldn’t attend church until after the election. They reasoned this by noting the pro-life homily didn’t focus on the Kingdom of God which they said should be the focus of mass.
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gaylord MI:
Fr. John did an excellent homily in which he explained our obligation to be faithful citizens. We have responsibilities as citizens of the USA to pay taxes, but we have an equally attendant responsibility as citizens of the Kingdom to vote to ensure our government is resembling as much as possible the New Jerusalem. How the governement spends our tax money and how it exercises responsibility is something we can influence while witnessing to our faithfulness to Christ.
He explained our obligation to elect legislators who will protect human life from conception to natural death and who will protect families and marriage as the buildingblocks of society.
We are not to pay attention to media soundbytes in making our decision; we are to listen to and pray with the Word of God. He also advised we visit the usccb website and the MI Catholic Conference website.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church in San Jose, CA
First the pastor talked about Vatican II and the argument over where the final document should be called “The Church of the Modern World” as opposed to “The Church in the Modern World.” 2,700 Bishops argued about a preposition “of” or “in” the modern world. He then pointed out the theological difference between the two words.
“On one hand we could be perceived as a church “of” the world as in “separate” from the world. On the other hand we could be perceived as a church “in” the world as in being immersed in the world. “We are not a church “of the world” as in “from the world” but that we are “in the world as part of the world” and that our role as a church is to be immersed in the world and to be a voice in the midst of the world.”
He continued to say, “We, as a church, are the people of God and we are in the midst of this world and our voice and our witness come from being in living in the world….Our role is to gather each Sunday around this table to receive the body and blood of Christ and then go out and to be the body and blood of Christ to others in the world. We are not separate of the world; we are part of the world and our role is to be alive in the world.”
He continued: “So, our role, as Jesus says today’s reading, is both the civic responsibility to the state and the moral responsibility to God of being church. For example, tomorrow will be our last opportunity to register to vote. And Christ says is our responsibility to be good citizen and so we should register to vote and then vote whatever way our conscience tells us to vote. But it also our responsibility to know what the Church teaches and we are called to be that role in the world too. The church teaches that our vote needs to count in the world, whatever that vote is for any of us. Our responsibility comes straight from scripture.
But it does not just stop there; our responsibility of being a church in the world is about caring for others in the world. We do that primarily through our family and friends but also to all people in our community. Our role as Christians is about being church to others; about reaching out for what we call in the church the “common good,” not for just all Catholics but for all people everywhere. Our role is to do the right thing for the right reason because it is good for all in the society. Indeed, our role is to care always for the weakest first. That is what the Church teaches us and that we do that in the midst of our world.”
No specific answer of issues.
Put our trust in God, not Cesar to protect us from financial ruin. He related it to his parents’ generation living through the Great Depression and early martyrs living their faith even against Cesar.
The Life Night (I’m a catchist for Life Teen) was about Pray the Vote and we showed the Catholic Vote video and talked about the issues the USCCB has said we need to pay special attention to this election.
The celebrant at Cincinnati’s St. Rose focused on the second reading and the theme of gratitude. It was a fine, unexceptional homily. But one of my Rochester readers got something of a treat:
http://richleonardi.blogspot.com/2008/10/sr-joan-jr.html
Dallas, TX
A homily expounding upon a recent letter promulgated by the bishops of Dallas and Fort Worth which letter contains the following nugget (highlighted in the homily):
“5. Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, in paragraphs 34-37, addresses the question of whether it is morally permissible for a Catholic to vote for a candidate who supports an intrinsic evil – even when the voter does not agree with the candidate’s position on that evil. The only moral possibilities for a Catholic to be able to vote in good conscience for a candidate who supports this intrinsic evil are the following:
a. If both candidates running for office support abortion or “abortion rights,” a Catholic would be forced to then look at the other important issues and through their vote try to limit the evil done; or,
b. If another intrinsic evil outweighs the evil of abortion. While this is sound moral reasoning, there are no “truly grave moral” or “proportionate” reasons, singularly or combined, that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by legal abortion each year.
To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or “abortion rights” when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.”
(Emphasis in the original).
I have been surprised to have seen so little commentary on this letter.
Upstate NY
Our pastor used the scripture passages to emphasize that the church does not and can not tell you how to vote. He repeated this in various ways making reference to the Bishop’s letter in the diocesan paper, which stressed the Bishops’ joint statement on catholic citizenship. He provided copies of both. The silence was deafening.
We were left with the clear understanding that we as voters had to look at the total picture before voting. We are not free to act as sheep, allowing anyone to dictate how to use our God-given freedom. You could here a pin drop.
St Jude’s, Westlake Village, Ca (Los Angeles suburb)
Our pastor is more liberal than I am, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by good support for the pro-marriage amendment and also the parental notification amendment. We also had a voter registration drive that was explicitly linked to our participation in the Vigil for Life.
The sermon on Sunday was good, but was not political in any way.
Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame (IN)
Although some of the celebrants at the Sunday and daily Masses sometimes allude to political issues, Sunday’s homily was a variation on the theme of “Jesus, help me to empty myself of everything that is not love.” No mention of political issues, fortunately.
In general, the homilies at the Basilica are pretty pedestrian rather than thought-provoking; perhaps because of the mix of regular worshippers (including a good number of students who choose not attend the dorm masses) and campus visitors.
We got our deacon yelling at us to “PUT ON CHRIST.” Not that this was the actual reading for sunday.
Our Pator was out of town, so a retired priest said mass and delivered the homily–that we were to deliver unto Caesar what was his–but always to the Lord what is his–with pointed references about not supporting manifest evil.
Last Week, Deacon (who is african-American) delieverd a strong homily on how all other rights proceed from being alive.
St. Martin of Tours, Louisville ky
Was at a different parish this weekend. The pastor said there was no prefect candidate. We should look at all the candidate and decide who was best. No guidance at all about how to make that decision. No – some issues more important than others. No – pro-life. No hint as to where to go to find out what the church teaches.
Sunday was our military community pastor’s last Mass before deploying to Afghanistan. Focus was more on giving your life in service. We’ve not had one homily touch on life issues or the election, not even on Respect Life Sunday. Fr.’s mind has been elsewhere, I think.
St. Jude, Misawa AB, Japan
Houston, TX, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church
Among the best homilies I have heard. Given by one of the priest in residence at this very active Houston area church (no danger of churches closing in Houston!) Keep in mind that I was wrestling intermittantly with a 2 year old and a 1 year old, but I was able to gather the following. The priest began with the first reading and gospel reading as the basis of his homily and went on to refer to works and letters by St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict, Archbishop Chaput, Bishop Finn, Bishop Farrell, Bishop Vann, and others. Father emphasized that not all issues were of equal importance. In particular, he spoke about how we certainly would not be justified in supporting a candidate who supported slavery, regardless of almost any other issues that were being debated. He then went on to reason that other issues that were like slavery include racial segregation, abortion, same-sex “marriage”, and euthanasia. Of course, Father did not tell us how to vote, but helped to form our consciences. Wow, it is pretty neat to hear bishops and priests proclaiming the truth without pretending that implication for Catholics in the voting booth is not clear.
I told people how to vote. Click on my name above to go to my site and scroll down for what I said.
Having attended an evangelical quasi-mega-church service in the early AM, I found a 10.00 Mass to take the proverbial shower, so to speak. A very, very small church in a small, small town. Maybe 40 people in the sanctuary, which thereby was about 3/4 full.
Father has probably been sent to this parish because he’s not the smoothest preacher or pastor in the world: choppy, nervous delivery and all that, somewhat incoherent in terms of flow.
That said, I wanted to stand up and cheer (I didn’t of course, as that would have drawn such attention to me, who was already perceived as an unknown visitor and outsider; my crossing my arms to get a blessing at Communion must have raised a few eyebrows and questions), for Father, having done the perfunctory “Litany of the IRS” — “I’m not telling you how to vote or endorsing any particular candidate” — went on to talk about how abortion was a fundamental issue, as well as talk about some other things as important issues.
Ann Arbor, MI
Our priest talked about Render unto Ceasar, Herodians etc.
Then, he talked about Life issues. He quoted Peter Kreeft to the affect that Hitler did many good things as the elected leader of Germany, including the Autobahn etc. But, that such good things were obviously not a good enough reason to support Hitler.
I think this analogy is not helpful because it is too extreme. The state does require abortions, but only allows them to happen, and sometimes pays for them.
He didn’t mention that the Church had forbidden Catholics to support the Nazis, but that after the future Pius XII secured the concordat, the Church lifted this ban on supporting the Nazis.