Here I Will Dwell

The voice said to me: Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the Israelites forever. Never again shall they and their kings profane my holy name with their harlotries and with the corpses of their kings (their high places). Ezekiel 43:7

The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12

Piety

http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts

Pray for justice, peace, and life with the Novena for Faithful Citizenship. At this link, you can download the Podcast and join Catholics throughout the United States in prayer, beginning Tuesday, September 2, nine weeks before the election.

Options for praying the Novena for Faithful Citizenship:

Start on September 2 and pray for nine consecutive Tuesdays, up until the general election.

Start the Novena on any day of the week, whenever people gather, and pray on that day every week.

Begin praying the Novena on October 26, nine days before the election, and continue each consecutive day.

Create any combination that works for you and your community—and feel free to pray the Novena more than once (1 Thes 5:17).

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/082308.shtml

There is a new novel out that was reviewed in USA Today last week: American Savior by Ronald Merullo. The plot supposes that Jesus returns and runs for President of the United States. Now that is what I call fiction. The novel is a political satire that sets Jesus on a path not for worldly power, but to make a point to millions of people. Merullo seems to be communicating that politics as usual is no longer the preferential option for the poor or anyone else.

My willing suspension of disbelief will not/can not bring itself to think that Jesus has any such plans in his second coming. One need only read Matthew 23 to realize the point that Jesus is trying to make in this novel. The Jesus we meet today in scripture would never put himself in a position to try to be elected to the most powerful office in this country or any country. He always drew the hard and fast distinction between rending unto the government what belongs to the government and likewise offering to God what is due to God. Plus, Jesus would run on the Nazareth Manifesto, bringing good news of the preferential option for the poor, the sick, the abandoned and those in prison. Where would that leave government contractors, K Street lobbyists, and the chattering class of reporters?

So today, Jesus reminds us that to be greatest, we must do the opposite of what society would consider popular and powerful.

There is another book out – less satirical – which intrigues the Christian imagination during this political season. Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw or www.jesusforpresident.org. According to its authors, "Our greatest challenge is to maintain the distinctiveness of our faith in a world gone mad. And all of creation waits, groans, for a people who live God's dream with fresh imagination."

Action

In a political season which has already featured both candidates at a mega-Church, we can reflect on how we will transform our beliefs into "Faithful Citizenship."

Practically speaking, as American Catholics wrestle with the challenges of this political season, the US Bishops have offered to us Faithful Citizenship. In helping to realize the broaqd implications of this statement, the bishops have a series of articles on the website. In one article, John Carr points out that "In his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI places love and care for the poor at the center of Catholic life." On the website, John Carr writes that the "priority for the poor…needs to be at the center of the national discussion in this election year. The facts about poverty in our land raise significant moral and policy issues."

• Poverty is pervasive. One in eight Americans lives in poverty, which represents more than 37 million people.
  
• The younger you are in America the more likely you are to be poor. One in six children, or 13 million children, lives in poverty.
  
• Family factors contribute to poverty. A child born to unmarried parents who have not graduated from high school, without a worker in the family has an 80 percent chance of growing up poor. A child born to a family without these factors has an 8 percent chance.
  
• Poverty is not distributed evenly. While most people who live in poverty are white, one out of four African-Americans, and one out of five Hispanics, lives in poverty. (See the Catholic Campaign for Human Development's Poverty USA website, www.povertyusa.org.povfacts_race.shtml).
  

In their statement A Place at the Table, the U.S. bishops outline a four-part strategy to address poverty. It calls for us to consider the following for our action:

1. Individuals to pursue education and work, to build strong families and to make sacrifices for children
   
2. Churches, faith-based and community organizations to support families, confront discrimination and injustice, strengthen neighborhoods and communities and stand with and help poor and vulnerable families
   
3. The market, businesses and unions to work to secure jobs at decent wages, health care and other benefits, a voice in the workplace, and efforts for growth and opportunity
   
4. Government to live up to its responsibility to protect the weak and vulnerable, promote human dignity and human rights, act effectively when other institutions fall short and promote greater economic opportunity and justice for all.