The account in the Gospel where our Lord heals the son of a Capharnaumite ruler takes place early in Christ’s public life. (cf. Jn. 4:46-54)

This ruler, having heard something about Christ that impacted him, begs our Lord to come to his house and heal his son, who is at the point of death. Christ rebukes the man over wanting to see signs and wonders in order to believe.

But the man persists, and our Lord heals his son–albeit not in the way he requested.

Our Lord’s word was sufficient for him, and this ruler would merit to receive from Christ not only the cure of his son, but the gift of faith, and faith even for his entire house. So in healing the body, Christ also ministered to the soul.

All the Sacraments of the Church have a specific purpose.

God knows best what our souls need most, and Christ organized the means by which all the needs of the soul are attended to throughout life, provided the necessary dispositions for their reception are present.

If there was not a true need–that is, if there was not a real impoverishment on our side, there would be no Sacrament for it.

So when it comes to bodily death and serious illnesses linked to death, there exists with it a corresponding spiritual condition that requires a special Sacrament, a special channel of grace that is both a support and a remedy for this condition.

With the powers of hell running out of time to claim its prize, and with depleted energy on our side from illness that leaves us weakened to resist the special types of temptations that may come, Christ leaves us with a weapon that supplies us with the graces we need most at these moments. So we should take example from the faith of this ruler, which prompted him to seek Christ out to help his dying son, and have prompt recourse to the sacrament of Extreme Unction (or Holy Anointing) whenever there is danger of death, either for ourselves or someone we love.

Regrettably, a challenge we face in our modern day is a world that has become incredibly desensitized to death. People generally live in a state of denial about death and the reality of a particular judgment before God and an afterlife which could either be quite happy or quite the opposite.

Catholics are not exempt from this, which is manifested by the widespread disregard of the importance of Extreme Unction.

Often the priest is not called because either the family does not know to do so or – and this is common – does not want to alarm the person who is dying.

Christ tells us that the Son of Man will come like a thief in the night and we do not know the day nor hour. So, all things being equal, how we live tends to be how we die.

While our time on earth is a time of mercy, the fact that many assume nowadays that anyone who has died must now be in a “better place” amounts to a grave presumption on Christ’s mercy and does a tremendous injustice to souls who, although perhaps saved, stand in great need of our prayers to temper the satisfaction God demands in purgatory.

This may remind us of the children at Fatima who asked our Lady about the state of soul of a teenage friend of theirs who recently died, and our Lady replied that she would be in purgatory until the end of time.

Although that may be a little discomforting to hear, what it proves is the reality that Christ indeed gives us everything we need in the way of grace to enter heaven upon death and that He wants it to be used while He stands ever-ready to assist us in our trials and labors.

He leaves no stone unturned.

If there is a way, He finds it, He makes it happen.

And so Extreme Unction serves as the final medicine for us in our preparation for death, judgment, and what should be heaven, made possible only by Almighty God.

by Fr. Gerard Saguto, FSSP.

In the fifth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, after a stormy night on the sea, our Lord and the Apostles land on the shore of the Gerasens.

Although these people traded with the surrounding areas, they kept to themselves for the most part. Upon landing, Christ encounters a man possessed for a long time by an unclean spirit whose name is Legion, “for we are many”. Quite the spectacle and menace to anyone who passed by.

The demons, in agony before Christ and forced to homage Him, mysteriously beg our Lord that He not send them back into the abyss before it is time, and instead ask to inhabit a herd of swine grazing in a nearby field.

Christ permits it, and the next thing we see are thousands of swine hurtling themselves off the cliff into the sea and drowning.

This must have been quite the show, especially for the swineherds, who perhaps had caught notice of the boat mooring on the shore and then watched in curiosity, in hopes of being entertained by its passengers running into the demoniac of the caves.

But the man was liberated, after enduring many years of torment, and that should have been a cause for some celebration.

The freak show was over; this mysterious man named Jesus had freed him. God be praised! And the man was most grateful.

Nonetheless, in those few short minutes our Lord had effectively upset the flow of life for the Gerasens – and this was a problem.

Time was going to be needed to pick up the pieces. To them it was better had Christ never come. And so an embassy is sent to Him, politely requesting that He depart.

Our Lord puts up no resistance, but insists that the man He just healed remain as a living testimony to Him, to dispose them for a future visit, whenever that might be.

While we can somewhat understand why things ended the way they did here, it can still be baffling to think that these people preferred their swine and demons over Christ.

For them, it was better that way, even if it was to their immediate and substantial loss, of which they were incapable of realizing.

In His efforts, Christ, who makes no mistakes, seemed to have been defeated (again).

Only one, the man Christ liberated, was ready to keep Him around. That is because the man was conscious of the work Christ had performed, understood it, and was grateful for it. As far as this person was concerned, there was no contest, and the decision was obvious; swine and demons were absurd commodities.

But now he still was to live among those who wanted swine and demons.

Imagine the disappointment. Yet the directive came from our Lord Himself – he had to comply.

How would he convince people like this that the swine and demons are not the gold and silver they believe them to be? How are those who think they have a right to swine and demons convinced that these are not really rights, but paths of slavery and perdition? How are those who prefer the immediate gratifications that come with swine and demons ever expected to deny themselves and realize that the happiness Christ promises is worth selling all?

The plain fact is that many probably will not.

But some will dispossess themselves, by the grace of God, on account of the walking witness Christ left among them, and whose faith would never waver. Christ found a follower in someone who, in human terms, should never have followed. We all fall into that category in some way.

The world prefers demons and swine, and it will be really ugly at times.

Christ came to give it the only way out. Like this man, we are liberated from them by our baptisms from the Cross.

And like this man, in season and out of season, we are commissioned to live in the world as it is and to be the walking witnesses of Christ Crucified to prepare it for His arrival again, whenever that may be.

In the Year of Our Lord 1654 an Iroquois army plunged into the Erie homeland, destroying the villages of Gentaienton and Rigué, and reportedly causing so much carnage that the blood ran knee deep in some places.

The survivors fled deep into the woods and all but disappeared from the pages of history, as the triumphant Iroquois returned home with spoils and captives.

Among these latter was a young Erie woman named Gandeaktena—and it would later be said that the “misfortune of her country proved the blessing of the captive.”

Gandeaktena was adopted into the Oneida nation of the Iroquois and married a fellow captive, a Christian Huron by the name of Francis Xavier Tonsahoten. He was a skilled warrior and hunter, and quite moody and difficult by temperament. Yet as long as lived, he so treasured the memory of his wife that on the occasions when his irascible nature showed itself, he could be calmed in an instant by the mere recollection of her.

In 1667 the Jesuit Jacques Bruyas came to preach to the Oneida. Moved intensely by the Gospel message, Gandeaktena began meeting with the priest for instruction, helped him learn the Iroquois language, and attended chapel regularly.

Her pagan relatives attempted unsuccessfully to dissuade her from Christianity, but they only served to increase her desire to leave Oneida and settle among the French where she could pray in freedom.

So in 1667 Gandeaktena, Francis Xavier, and a little band of seven souls journeyed to the French Canadian settlements over the ice.

In Quebec she was baptized by Bishop Laval, took the name Catherine (or Kateri in Mohawk), then with her husband moved just south of Montreal to help establish a brand new settlement called La Prairie.

From these humble beginnings sprang the great Iroquois mission at Kahnawake which became renowned for its piety and religiousness. So much so that, among the Iroquois, “he has gone to La Prairie,” became an expression of its own, used to mean the man had given up his former vices and was now living as a Christian.

Catherine Gandeaktena’s virtues played no small part in the reputation of the famous mission she founded.

She came to be called by the Indians the “Mother of the Poor”, the “Good Christian” and the “Pillar of the Faith”. Their cabin became a haven for the poor and discontented, and she instructed and catechized many who lived in or passed through the village by the hundreds on the way to the hunting grounds of Canada.

So great a charity beat in her noble heart that her confessor had to prescribe limits to it—she was accustomed to “give the best of what she had, and in a quantity which was even excessive.”

Catherine also established a branch of the newly formed Confraternity of the Holy Family at the mission. Its members were a group of the most devout converts, who said as many as 20 rosaries per day and were the mainstay of the mission’s Catholic life.

After five years of devoted charity, Catherine convinced her husband to give away the last bit of wealth they owned–a belt of wampum beads. They presented themselves before the Blessed Sacrament, where she prayed the following:

“My God, four years ago, I gave to you my body and soul, and the greater portion of my goods. Here is what remains to me; I present it to you with all my heart. What should I now ask of you after having given you my all, unless it be that, from this moment, you take me yourself, to place me near you?”

The very next day Catherine was struck by a headache and fever.

She sensed with joy that the Lord had answered her prayer. Francis Xavier and her other loved ones crowded around her bedside, while the ministering priest had her pray for her own recovery. But she quickly added:

“It has been impossible for me to say from the heart what I have just uttered with the lips. Why ask to remain on earth, since God is calling me to heaven?”

Soon after receiving the last sacraments, Catherine became delirious. Her husband continually exhorted everyone to say rosaries on her behalf, and after 8 days of their “unceasing prayer” she slipped into a final peaceful coma.

Catherine Gandeaktena died to this world on November 6th, 1673.

Her husband distributed all her remaining goods to the poor, asking only for prayers for her soul. It was generally believed, however, by Black Robe and Indian alike, that her soul had attained the final bliss of heaven.

Only a few years later another Catherine, surnamed Tekakwitha, would seek refuge among the devout Christians at the same mission, and her reputation would quickly eclipse that of her predecessor.

But it was the holy example of the first Kateri, Catherine Gandeaktena, that prepared the seed-bed for St. Kateri’s arrival. It was she who founded the mission of Christian Iroquois at Kahnawake, and who prepared the spiritual soil in which the Lily of the Mohawks would bloom.

Devotion to the holy souls in Purgatory is as simple as it is easy. For that reason, this devotion can easily be incorporated regularly in the family prayers, and even in the basic prayer life of a child. Most children know what it is like to have “time out” for behaving badly, and how happy they can be if they are let out early, or if another sibling may be allowed to come in and keep them company.  Based on this, children can be taught from an early age how something as simple as a Hail Mary or an Our Father said for a soul in purgatory, or offering up a chore, is like spending some time with a soul, to comfort it, to help it get out of its “time out” early. At the same time, they can readily understand how the “time out” was avoidable had they behaved the way they should have. +

Litany for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

O Jesus, Thou suffered and died that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness.  Hear our pleas for further mercy on the souls of:

My dear parents and grandparents, my Jesus mercy!
My brothers and sisters and other near relatives, my Jesus mercy!
My godparents and sponsors of confirmation, my Jesus mercy!
My spiritual and temporal benefactors, my Jesus mercy!
My friends and neighbors, my Jesus mercy!
All for whom love or duty bids me pray, my Jesus mercy!

Those who have offended me, my Jesus mercy!
Those who have suffered disadvantage or harm through me, my Jesus mercy!

Those who are especially beloved by Thee, my Jesus mercy!
Those whose release is near at hand, my Jesus mercy!
Those who desire most to be united to Thee, my Jesus mercy!

Those who endure the greatest sufferings, my Jesus mercy!
Those whose release is most remote, my Jesus mercy!
Those who are least remembered, my Jesus mercy!

Those who are most deserving on account of their services to the Church, my Jesus mercy!
The rich, who now are the most destitute, my Jesus mercy!
The mighty, who now are powerless, my Jesus mercy!
The once spiritually blind, who now see their folly, my Jesus mercy!
The frivolous, who spent their time in idleness, my Jesus mercy!
The poor, who did not seek the treasures of heaven, my Jesus mercy!
The tepid, who devoted little time to prayer, my Jesus mercy!
The indolent, who neglected to perform good works, my Jesus mercy!
Those of little faith, who neglected the frequent reception of the Sacraments, my Jesus mercy!
The habitual sinners, who owe their salvation to a miracle of grace, my Jesus mercy!
Parents who failed to watch over their children, my Jesus mercy!
Superiors who were not solicitous for the salvation of those entrusted to them, my Jesus mercy!
Those who strove for worldly riches and pleasures, my Jesus mercy!
The worldly-minded, who failed to use their wealth and talents in the service of God, my Jesus mercy!
Those who witnessed the death of others, but would not think of their own, my Jesus mercy!
Those who did not provide for the life hereafter, my Jesus mercy!
Those whose sentence is severe because of the great things entrusted to them, my Jesus mercy!

The popes, kings and rulers, my Jesus mercy!
The bishops and their counselors, my Jesus mercy!
My teachers and spiritual advisors, my Jesus mercy!
The deceased priests of this diocese, my Jesus mercy!
The priests and religious of the Catholic Church, my Jesus mercy!

The defenders of the holy faith, my Jesus mercy!
Those who died on the battlefield, my Jesus mercy!
Those who fought for their country, my Jesus mercy!
Those who were buried in the sea, my Jesus mercy!
Those who died of apoplexy, my Jesus mercy!
Those who died of heart attacks, my Jesus mercy!
Those who suffered and died of cancer, my Jesus mercy!
Those who died suddenly in accidents, my Jesus mercy!
Those who died without the last rites of the Church, my Jesus mercy!
Those who shall die within the next twenty-four hours, my Jesus mercy!
My own poor soul when I shall have to appear before Thy judgment seat, my Jesus mercy!

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them: For evermore with Thy saints, because Thou art gracious.

May the prayer of Thy suppliant people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, benefit the souls of Thy departed servants and handmaids: that Thou mayest both deliver them from all their sins, and make them to be partakers of Thy redemption. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

On March 12th, 1771, a band of 10 Franciscan missionaries disembarked at Monterey to receive their assignments from the superior of the missions of Alta California, St. Junipero Serra.

Among these was Fr. Luis Jayme, described in the records as a “person with well proportioned physique, somewhat thin, and of a darkish complexion.” Fray Luis was a native of Mallorca who had studied in the convent school of San Bernardino, once attended by the fellow Mallorcan Serra himself.

By July 14th, Fray Luis had arrived at his new post at the mission of San Diego, to minister to the Kumeyaay Indians, also known as Diegueños.

Though the priest had some successes there, he found it plagued with significant problems, including its disadvantageous location atop Presidio Hill. As he wrote to his superior Fr. Serra in 1773: “it seems that as long as the mission is here, it will never have a firm basis. Nor should there be mission here, on account of the scarcity of water.”

It was thus agreed to move the mission to a better-watered and more fertile place called Nipaguay. Conversions increased dramatically there, with about 60 Indians baptized on the vigil of St. Francis, October 3rd, 1775, to add to a large group already brought into Holy Mother Church.

But this success, as Fr. Francisco Palou later recorded, inspired the devil to plan

“an attack on this spiritual conquest, and God in His inscrutable judgments permitted Satan to revenge himself upon those who had snatched so many souls from his infernal clutches.”

At 1 o’ clock in the morning of November 4th, 1775, a band of 600-800 warriors, including apostates from the missions, snuck onto the compound. They ransacked the chapel and then began to set fire to the buildings and kill some of the residents.

Awakened by the commotion, Fray Luis left his bed and approached some of the warriors

“Amar a Dios, hijos!” he greeted them: “Love God my children!” This was not a warning or command; merely his customary greeting.

But in return, the warriors seized the poor friar and dragged him down to the nearby river, where they stripped him, riddled him with 18 arrows, and then beat out with clubs whatever little life remained to him.

The next day. grieving residents found his disfigured body, only able to identify the priest by the whiteness of his skin. The only part of his body left intact were his hands alone–the tools with which he had offered the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.

St. Junipero Serra, upon learning what had happened, remarked:

“Thanks be to God: that land is already irrigated [with blood]; now the conversion of the Diegueños will succeed.”

If that sentiment at the death of a confrere strikes modern man as insensitive, it is because we, unlike the Apostle of California, have grown lax in our supernatural faith and have placed too much stock in our achievements of this world rather than our standing in the next.

For the martyrs of a much more ancient time have passed on a phrase that surely was behind St. Junipero’s reply:

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

Today, November 4th, we remember the protomartyr Fray Luis Jayme, and the blood he spilled so that the Church in California could flourish among the glorious flowers of the New World.

With today being Election Day in the U.S., knowing what is at stake, as we offer our Rosaries and implore the Mother of God for a happy result, we also take note of these prayers from the Missale Romanum for devotional use.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, to crush the pride of our enemies, and humble their insolence by the power of Thy right hand. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Look down, O God, our Protector, and defend us from the perils of our enemies, that all trouble being removed, we may serve Thee with quiet minds. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy Church: that all adversity and error being destroyed, she may serve Thee in security and freedom. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We have commented a great deal about society and politics over the last few months, as there are many critical matters immediately at hand. Nonetheless, we can lose ourselves a bit in all this and forget that, no matter what happens, God is still in charge and He is always faithful to His promises to those who keep His word.

Ven. Fulton Sheen comments that the real crisis modern man faces is that he has forgotten that he has a soul to save.

Many are unaware of what has taken place in history for salvation; like sheep without shepherds, they do not know – or do not want to know – that there is only one Way, Truth, and Life that answers the most profound questions of the human heart and soul.

If a man loses his soul, it is his fault, not the God who came searching for him, who called out from a Cross, and who kept searching for him every moment of his life until the allotted time ran out.

That is the real tragedy of the crisis, when all that was necessary was that the soul stop running and turn towards Christ – Deus tu conversus vivificabis nos.

For the repentant sinner, it would not have been a long walk back to Him either, as he would have discovered that Christ had been right behind him all along. The damned soul just ran off the precipice where Christ could no longer follow, into the abyss of everlasting weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As uncertain as this life can get at times, Catholics know that death and judgment are certain for every human being.

For those who die in a state of grace, that is, in God’s friendship where the soul bears a true reflection of the very divine life itself, eternal beatitude is now certain; the soul will appear before its eternal Savior and Judge for its particular judgment donned in its wedding garment, ready to receive the commendation from Christ: Euge serve et bone! “Well done, good and faithful servant! Because you have been faithful over a few things,” – that is, you have safeguarded the grace of Baptism given to you – “I will put you over many.”

But before our Savior can complete His invitation to enter into “the joy of thy Master” – the Beatific and eternal Vision of the Holy Trinity as It truly is, some souls must take notice of something not quite in place about themselves.

Unimpeded by the body, now without the world and the flesh to distract it or attach itself to, the soul stands before Christ with full realization that it was made and redeemed by Him, and that He has full claim on it.

In the presence of Perfect Truth, Light, and Love that illumine the entirety of its being and irresistibly attract it, the soul notices stains on its wedding garment – the rust marks of disordered attachments, unrepented venial sins, and unremitted temporal punishments of forgiven sins – and it realizes how all sufferings and trials had been providentially sent by its Savior, standing before it with His Cross in hand, and were meant to cleanse it during its earthly sojourn, but went neglected somewhat.

The soul wants to be purged of this all before it enters the wedding feast.  The irresistible draw towards Christ to be with Him forever in glory actually compels the soul to desire the cleansing fires of purgatory, so as to render it fit for that glory, and it willingly takes its place there.

The soul is both holy and poor.

Holy because it is confirmed in grace; it knows it will definitely see God and be with Him forever, and there is a genuine joy that comes with that.

But it is poor because it had to withdraw itself from Christ for a duration appointed by Him, which was wholly avoidable; it thirsts for that Beatific Vision with an indescribable longing that requires the Masses, prayers, and suffrages – that is, the charity – of the faithful here on earth to shorten the wait.

It suffers intensely, both in pains of loss and sense, and so these souls pray and plead that they obtain their eternal rest, with the bona fide promise to pray for those who assisted them upon release.

It is All Souls’ Day. November is the month of the Holy Souls, amidst whom we may one day find ourselves.

Pray for the souls in Purgatory always, that they be loosed from their sins, and remember daily the usefulness of the trials our loving Savior sends, to help avoid it ourselves when He calls us from this life into eternity.

We know well how our Blessed Lord gave His Apostles moments of wonderful consolation before leading them down a difficult path, like His glorious Transfiguration before the Passion.

His Bride the Church does the same.

Lent has its Laetare Sunday to encourage us through the great fast. Soon enough we will be in the little fast of Advent, and Gaudete Sunday will offer us a welcome bit of rose-colored joy just before the winter Embertide and the last stretch of awaiting the Messiah.

This weekend we find ourselves entering the Last Sundays of Pentecost, when Holy Mother Church begins to sound an increasingly ominous alarm.

The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost sees the striking appearance of the De profundis, from the Mass of the Dead. On this Sunday it is prominently featured in the Introit, and in the 23rd, 24th, and all the resumed Sundays it will be a constant drumbeat in the Offertory. Though the liturgical books still call for green throughout, we might find it helpful to consider it not so much the lush green of growth as it was during Summer, but now the pale green of Death, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse (Latin pallidus, Greek chloros).

Liturgically speaking, we have reached the end of the world.

The time is up. The final cataclysm is upon us.

Whatever our petty cares and wants were before, they seem very superficial now. The Apocalypse that our mortal humanity dreads is now rolling over cities and hills like an unstoppable pyroclastic flow.

There is nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

Our lives are now laid bare for God to judge, before which we can only cry out “mercy, mercy!”

All the men on earth, whether they want to or not, are now compelled to join us in that pleading, desperate Introit of the 22nd Sunday:

If Thou shalt observe iniquities, O Lord, who shall endure it?…from the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.

This particular year the liturgical Apocalypse has become a little too vivid, hasn’t it?

The normal economy (oikonomia) of our lives was interrupted by a frightening revenant crawled out from a bygone age: a worldwide pandemic. Then followed the reactions to it: deaths, food shortages, quarantines, lockdowns, suspensions of the sacraments, unemployment, bankruptcy, tyranny. These were soon joined by riots, iconoclasm, vandalism, and murder. And yet another ghastly revenant, another undead ghoul known as Marxism was somehow reanimated by some dark and infernal art. Beset by these evils, we strain our ears to hear the faintest encouragement from the shepherds of the Church—and are too often met with silence.

Next Tuesday, our American readers face an election. But it is one somewhat unlike previous elections, where each side hoped for a resounding victory to implement competing visions on society.

This year, both sides seem to be struck with a foreboding that, either way, the nation is in for it. That a glorious victory for one camp will only deepen the implacable rage of the other, leading us inexorably to the same violent outcome.

Perhaps.

It may not be God’s will to prepare us for the end just yet. It sure feels like an end, all the same.

And yet…..yet….

Lest we get too caught up in the bleakness of it all, in the hellish hatred and violence and betrayal around us, lest we let the news drive us to despair and hopelessness, we realize that the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost falls, in this Anno Domini of 2020, on November 1st.

It is, thus, superseded.

It was not superseded last year. It will not be superseded next year.

But in this Year of Our Salvation 2020, the loyal sons and daughters of Holy Mother Church will not hear the desperate Introit of the 22nd Sunday. They will only hear the commemoration of its more hopeful Collect:

“O God, our refuge and our strength, the very author of our piety, be present to the devout supplications of Thy Church, and grant that what we seek in faith we may effectively arrive at.”

This Sunday, what we seek in faith will actually be seen, as we lift up our voices with the first words of Holy Mass, and ring out the Introit:

GAUDEAMUS omnes in Domino!

“Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a feast in honor of all the saints, in whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and join in praising the Son of God. Rejoice in the Lord, ye just: praise becometh the upright!”

Almighty God has seen fit to prepare for us, through a calendar worked out centuries ago, a liturgical consolation in a year we badly need one. It is a “Gaudete” Sunday more spectacular and more joyous than the actual one…with its vestments set out in brilliant white and gold rather than mere rose.

This year the Apocalypse begins with all the glory of All Hallows, and a window into the heights of heaven.

So let the End begin, liturgically or actually, however Our Lord has foreordained it.

We His children can see how tenderly He has allowed us this glimpse of Paradise just when we need it the most. We see these rays of bright heaven beaming into our dark world like a glowing ladder calling us up to the higher life.

Come what may, the greatest victory is won. Christ has prepared for us a new kingdom.  Christ has built for us a new and perfect world that will never be taken away.

Gaudeamus omnes! Gaudent angeli! Exsultate, justi! Rejoice all! The angels rejoice! Rejoice, ye just!

Three times rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!!

Do not let this Sunday pass without thanking God for this joyous consolation that Holy Church has prepared for us.

And whatever we see in the weeks and months ahead, let us always remember all the saints and angels encouraging us, praying for us, and cheering us on, as we prepare for the final leg of our journey home.

Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

With the U.S. elections a few days away, questions tend to arise among well-meaning Catholics about whether they can vote for any candidate who in some way supports abortion.

As a result, they consider whether they should vote at all if there is not a completely pro-life candidate, or if it worth voting for a non-viable third-party candidate who is most aligned with the Church’s moral and social teachings. Some would argue that not voting or voting third party only serves to help the worse of the two viable candidates, and that Catholics are morally obligated to utilize their votes to prevent that from happening.

While this is something to take under serious prudential consideration, especially when someone senses his vote is more ”against” one candidate than “for” another, the Church leaves an individual with freedom in this regard and provides the moral principles to guide the decision.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that there is a hierarchy of moral evil; some acts are worse than others.

The Church posits that there are five “non-negotiables” when it comes to deciding on a candidate to endorse: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and the redefinition of marriage.

The first four involve the direct and willful destruction of innocent human life; the fifth one militates against the very institution upon which society depends for its continued existence.

While there are other evils, these five must be considered first when deciding whom to vote for as well as which political party to endorse. Candidates aspiring to national office would be expected to execute the party’s platform (this may or may not be as pronounced at local-level elections). Regarding the political parties, it can be well-argued that if a party’s platform officially endorses all or most of the non-negotiables, a Catholic cannot be aligned with it without committing sin, as doing so could be considered formal cooperation with evil.

So the question arises about what to do when two viable candidates for a national office, either personally or by party affiliation and endorsement, violate one or more of the non-negotiables.

In such cases, a Catholic may vote for the lesser of the two evils.

But how to determine that?

We must keep in mind that a Catholic can never formally cooperate with abortion; he cannot support it or vote for a candidate because the candidate will support it. That said, given the hierarchy of the non-negotiables, a candidate (or party) that supports abortion is the worse of the two, even should the other support some of the lower ones but not abortion (for instance, when a candidate is against abortion but may favor research on already existing stem cells from aborted embryos).

A candidate should be eliminated from consideration if he fails at this point. As Trent Horn comments in his article Can Catholics Vote for Pro-Choicers? which should be read in its entirety (https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/faith-abortion-and-voting-part-4) :

“If the only relevant difference between two candidates were that one supports the legal killing of unborn human beings and the other does not, then there would be almost no chance there is a proportionate reason to vote for the pro-legal-child-killing candidate.”

Nonetheless, if both support abortion, one would need to see which other non-negotiables are compromised, and a vote would be decided based on who is less likely to advance the evil causes at hand.

Some Catholics may still find themselves torn though. While much emotion and passion surrounds the elections, revealing a polarized and divided electorate, we are responsible before God for making a reasoned, dispassionate, and morally correct decision about whom we vote for.

As Horn states:

Catholics could not vote for a candidate who endorses an intrinsic evil such as legal abortion merely because they prefer that candidate’s party or because they find the other candidate unlikeable or even morally reprehensible in his personal conduct. And as we noted last time, voting for a pro-abortion candidate also wouldn’t be justified merely because you disagreed with the other candidate’s views on an issue Catholics could reasonably disagree about.

The Church’s moral guidance does well to help us eliminate a person whom a Catholic cannot morally vote for, leaving us free to vote for the remaining candidates.

But given the serious situation facing the country, it is also worth considering: does a circumstance exist in some places that should make one think carefully before voting for a third party?

It is obvious that a relaxed stance on immigration and/or the dissolution of borders not only creates a national safety issue, it also serves to undermine the state’s own autonomous sovereignty, thereby gravely violating the rights of its citizens who contribute to its welfare and upon whom they rely.

Indiscriminate amnesty, or amnesty on a large scale, compromises the common good of a nation’s citizenry because it does not provide a forum for proof of allegiance, all the while imposing undue burdens of wealth and resources on the citizens who are now forced to support those who cannot support themselves.

This is a failure in charity, and extends well beyond our Christian maxim of welcoming a stranger; for someone trying to be an upright citizen, and who has responsibilities to one’s own fellow citizens first (especially to members of one’s family), this is not a matter of greed versus generosity.

Although we are not blind to the humanitarian element, there are considerable limitations about what reasonably can be done, especially as this seems to have come about with the sanction of those who have care of the common good, an evident abuse of power. The compromise of a state’s integrity helps no one, and serves to increase the domination of many by a few, leading to greater violations of human rights and many bad fruits if this continues, such as an increase in violent crime, drug and human trafficking, and compromised job markets.

Amnesty, then, is no answer, but part of the problem.

Instead, those who have care for the common good at a national level, while protecting its citizens, are obliged before God to see that, in establishing a process for citizenship, the expectation of loyalty to the state is understood, which means suitable and truthful education in the history of the nation and a willingness to adapt to the regular method of commerce and language of its citizens. (As a corollary, governors who have the requisite authority are obliged to make efforts to correct errors in this education within its public institutions.)

At the same time, to the degree it is has power and influence, a sovereign nation has some responsibility to put pressure on other sovereign nations to correct themselves where their public policies violate human rights. This can come in various forms, including sanctions.

Nonetheless, willing collaboration with such nations, economically or otherwise, seems to violate the duty to protect the common good; making another sovereign state the resource, economic, or manufacturing slave of another adversely affects the common good of both, as the knowing violation of human rights in one state cannot be used to safeguard the citizens’ rights of another.

Remember that the common good does not mean that day-to-day life in a country is easy, but that its government is respectful of fundamental human rights to life, liberty, and property, and permits its citizens to advance them.

It is not the objective here to advance a specific solution to these complex problems, but rather to give reasons as to the position we ought to take as Catholics.

The more removed or disconnected citizens become with their nation’s past, the more disrespectful or apathetic they become towards their nation, and the more power revolutionaries take to impose new and politically correct versions of its history upon citizens in an effort to undermine the common good and change its trajectory.

The individual sovereignty of our nation is under attack, and our natural law inclination as citizens to love and preserve the identity of our country of allegiance has been violated.

Nonetheless, we must remember that bad rulers are generally sent by God as a chastisement for the sins of a nation, and a solution is found only in the conversion of the people under such rule.

As baptized, we must remember that we are citizens of heaven first, and so for us it begins with the basics of respecting the human rights of all, voting for leaders who will support this, and promoting the common good within the framework of the family, the building-block of any society.

By doing so is the connection re-established with the sacrifices of many in the past to secure the good of a nation and by which, in our own cases as citizens, we stand ready to re-occupy it for love of God, neighbor, and country.