Today’s Gospel reminds me how announcing the Good News was anything but peaceful or smooth, even for Jesus. Members of his own religious tradition plotted his downfall by asking an impossible question: What do we owe Caesar (the occupying government) and what do we owe God? Either way he answers their question will create animosity from the Romans or his fellow Jews. He makes neither side happy by simply evading the question with an answer that leaves them unsatisfied.
These same allegiances continue to challenge our own announcement of the Good News, even today. If there is a conflict between our faith and our government, our faith leads. For example, our faith teaches us that all people possess an intrinsic dignity given to them by God regardless of their race, religion, immigration status, economic level, crimes, physical or mental health, sexual orientation, gender identify, choices, or actions. Such dignity constrains us from any behavior that dehumanizes them in any way.
This belief must then be transferred into how we respond to some very difficult and complex social issues that we will vote on soon. If I had to offer a voting guide for Catholics, it would be this: Support those policies and candidates that honor the dignity of all human beings and never reduce this commitment to only one group of human beings. What do human beings need for their dignity? A clean and safe environment to live in. The ability to treat disease or injury in their bodies without sacrificing all their money. An equitable education system that helps them and their children grow. The ability to be safe from enemies who want to hurt them. In short, consider what ensures your own dignity.
As we translate our beliefs into our own political sphere, remember that it can never be done perfectly according to our faith. No political party contains the Gospel in its entirety. Let’s make sure we do not confuse our faith with human institutions either in the form of States, political parties, issues, etc. St. John Paul II said that politics is “the art of the possible.” Trust your conscience, always allow your faith to give the final say on how to proceed, and vote for what we see Jesus embrace in the Gospels—care for the poor, inclusion of those rejected by society, respect for everyone-especially the vulnerable, forgiveness, and non-violent solutions to conflict.
Tom Kelly
Thomas Kelly, Ph.D. is Professor of Theology and Director of the Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University. He has been an Ignatian Associate for 21 years and parents four children with his wife Lisa.
