you . . . For the measure you give will be the measure you get
back” (Lk 6:36-38). What these passages make clear is the
absolute priority of “going forth from ourselves toward our
brothers and sisters” as one of the two great commandments
which ground every moral norm and as the clearest sign for
discerning spiritual growth in response to God’s completely
free gift. (no. 179)
Love compels us “to ‘go into all the world and proclaim the good news to
the whole creation’ (Mk 16:15)” (
Evangelii Gaudium
, no. 181). “Here,” Pope
Francis continues, “‘the creation’ refers to every aspect of human life; con-
sequently, ‘the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a
universal destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of
existence, all individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Noth-
ing human can be alien to it’” (
Evangelii Gaudium
, no. 181). This “mandate”
includes our engagement in political life.
2. The political realities of our nation present us with opportunities and
challenges. We are a nation founded on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap-
piness,” but the right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn
children, the terminally ill, and the elderly, the most vulnerable members
of the American family. We are called to be peacemakers in a nation at war.
We are a country pledged to pursue “liberty and justice for all,” but we are
too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We
are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new
immigrants in our midst. We are a society built on the strength of our families,
called to defend marriage and offer moral and economic supports for family
life. We are a powerful nation in a violent world, confronting terror and trying
to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent society
where too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities of
life. We are part of a global community charged with being good stewards of
the earth’s environment, what Pope Francis calls “our common home,” which
is being threatened. These challenges are at the heart of public life and at the
center of the pursuit of the common good.
1
They are intertwined and insepa-
rable. As Pope Francis has insisted, “We are faced . . . with one complex crisis
which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an
integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded,
and at the same time protecting nature” (
Laudato Si’
, no. 139).
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