When is a homilist being political and when is he being prophetic? I’m using the term ‘homily’ in the broadest sense to include speaking not only within a liturgical setting but engaging with the moral dimensions of the present political moment through social media.
Many are familiar with the well-publicized sermon of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., at the prayer service at the beginning of the Trump administration with the President, Vice-President and many in the new administration in attendance at the National Cathedral. Was Bishop Budde being prophetic and speaking a needed truth to power in her remarks or was she being political when she said?
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.”
While there are some who judged her to be blatantly political, I join with many in our nation who applauded her remarks as a needed and prophetic defense of the countless immigrants and marginalized persons in our land at the hands of the demagoguery and scapegoating that are rampant in the present administration.
Was Pope Francis being prophetic or political in his recent letter to the Bishops in the United States decrying the mass deportation of immigrants that has been a hallmark of the new administration? Border czar, Tom Homan, a ‘good’ Catholic, clearly felt it was a political attack and shamefully told the Holy Father to “stick to the Catholic Church…”
In the face of the clear moral threats to Gospel values that many of this administration’s executive orders present, a growing number of clergy are faced with an understandable dilemma. Do we raise our voices and exercise a prophetic witness to the perennial moral imperatives that our Church cherishes and defends, or do we remain silent for fear that we will be perceived as abusing the ‘pulpit’ in a partisan or political manner?
Fortunately, we have a sterling example in our Holy Father himself who has not shied away from raising his voice as Universal Pastor of the Church in rebuking and correcting mischaracterizations of fundamental Catholic moral principles, vis a vis the immigrant, the poor and the marginalized.
A priest friend of mind was so nervous in addressing these topics homiletically that he lost sleep the night before he preached! A deacon friend of mine has written a thoroughly Gospel based objection to the moral depravity of many of the executive orders of the present administration yet hesitates to make his comments public out of fear of crossing the line from being appropriately prophetic to being politically partisan.
“Fear is useless, what is needed is trust,” as the Lord himself reminds us in the Gospels. In my humble opinion as a priest for over 50 years, the present moment demands the courage of Pope Francis and Bishop Budde. While there are a number of Catholic Bishops who have courageously spoken of the implications from a Catholic social ethic of a number of the executive orders, as well as the Conference of Bishops, the personal statements of Cardinal Cupich have been quite focused and strong.
There is no question that indiscriminate massive deportation of immigrants has raised multiple ethical issues. Pulling funding from USAID that has provided 50% of the budget for Catholic Relief Services, the primary outreach arm for international aid for the American Bishops, is going to have dire consequences with moral implications. People are going to die.
The PEPFAR program initiated by President George W. Bush and funded by American dollars through USAID that provides life-saving HIV drugs for people in Africa, will now be virtually dismantled with the closure of USAID. People are going to die.
Proposed massive cuts to Medicaid that provides medical treatment for the poor and marginalized of our country in order to provide tax cuts primarily for the wealthy will have a disproportionate impact on the poor and marginalized. People are going to die.
As witnessed by our Holy Father and leaders of our Church, ministers of the Gospel cannot remain silent. If ever there is a time for prophetic courage, now is such a time. Ministers of the Gospel are ordained not to preach what people want to hear but what our people need to hear about the truth of the Gospel that always liberates, heals and is there especially for the poor and marginalized. If some perceive this to be “political,”so be it. Fear is useless, what is needed is trust and courage!