Dear Friends,
On the Sunday after his election was confirmed by his victory in Pennsylvania, President-elect Joe Biden went to Mass. Certain things would not change for him. Joe Biden was a man of faith before his election. Afterwards, he would need God’s guidance to put together a government that would be fair to all, respectful of and embracing all Americans, without exception. Ahead, there will be successes in this agenda. There will also be missteps, blind spots, and pain. After all, Joe Biden is human. So are we.
As he spoke in victory, I was appreciative of President-elect Biden’s desire to build up the lives of all citizens and newcomers alike. But he is not alone in this task. You and I need to share in that profound work. Like Joe, we can be confident of the wisdom of God, the constant companionship of God as we go forward. But we need to be open to it, access it, activate it, renew it daily.
The American project of growth and outreach stretches before us. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will have to surround themselves with knowledgeable people for whom the common good is the acknowledged goal of service in government. We will need to do in like manner, so as not to grow sour because of political differences or be entrenched in old ways that did not serve life for all.
In his recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis emphasizes social friendship as a blueprint for healing the many scars from wounds inflicted, even within families, during the election process. Pope Francis highlights the virtues of compassion, solidarity and dialogue.
Recently, the Bishop of San Diego, CA, Robert McElroy, in a talk given at the University of Notre Dame, built on the words of Pope Francis: “We, as people of faith, must demonstrate how our nation can be rebuilt by citizens who identify with the vulnerability of others precisely by refusing to channel our compassion and compassionate action along the lines of party and class.” On solidarity, Bishop McElroy said that Americans, beginning with Catholics, must learn to put the common good above self-interest. (This may be the hardest task of all!) And when it comes to dialogue, he said, a new tone of encounter needs to be embraced. “It is vital,” Bishop McElroy said, “that we be less magisterial and more dialogical even on those issues on which are convictions are most profound.
To do these things with fruitfulness, you and I need to give up Redundance, Rebukes, Regrets, and Recurrences of destructive patterns. Instead, we must be Resourceful, Re-creative, Respectful, and capable of Renewing with the Holy Spirit the face of our nation and ultimately, the earth.
Let it be so.
~Sister Joan Sobala
