Spirituality is what a person or community believes and how they act on that belief. As Catholics we believe that God is the Author, Sustainer and Goal of every human life and society, and thus every human life should be protected at conception and nurtured by society, starting with the family.
We believe that a person can discover the basic dignity of every human being at any stage or condition of life by reasoning with the natural light of truth. This is what the Founders of America did.
The pilgrims of the thirteen original colonies came to America mostly to get away from tyrannical officials who oppressed those less powerful. Many rulers, Catholic as well as Protestant, ignored the Church’s teaching and God’s natural law and disrespected the dignity of those less powerful than themselves. This is sinful, and if it is of grave matter that is placed into law it becomes “institutional sin” for the society. Unfortunately that is the state of our country with regard to abortion and so called same sex “marriage.”
Our Founders inscribed in the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Our country was founded on principles that call for respect for every person and their freedom, so long as they respect the “laws of nature and Nature’s God."
These natural laws reflect that God is the Creator of natural rights and responsibilities of which mankind is called to participate; as well, that God is the “Supreme Judge of the world”, not the imperfect courts of man, including the Supreme Court of this country which failed to protect black people in the Dredd Scott decision (1857), nor has it protected unborn babies with their faulty decision of the recent Roe v. Wade decision (1973), nor the rights of children to have a Mom and a Dad in their 2015 decision.
The Founders used objective reason to discover these natural laws and thus reasoned that there must be a Lawgiver, namely God. However, since people can choose to follow or break theses natural laws, God calls us to participate in protecting and promoting these self-evident truths, especially for those with little power like unborn babies and children, who have a right to a Mom and a Dad. This is clearly revealed in the Divine Revelation of Sacred Scriptures which upholds and builds upon natural law, both of which come from the heart of God.
The Founders also relied on God to provide for the victory of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that flows from God, but not without their struggles and sacrifices. The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads: “And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
To be pro-life and pro-marriage as God intended, so as to protect unborn babies and children, we must measure candidates for public office with the natural law standard. We have a moral duty and obligation to participate in the protection and promotion of God’s will by upholding the principles of our country. To do less is to watch our country sink further into sin and thus jeopardize our salvation.
In order to have good political candidates from which to choose, and propose laws that conform to God’s natural law, we should participate in the precinct caucuses for whatever political party you align with. The Secretary of State has declared that Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, at 7 p.m. will begin the caucuses. Google "Minnesota Secretary of State Precinct Caucuses" for more information.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Thomas McCabe
Council Chaplain
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