One of the realities of modern society is that we politicize nearly everything, including the Catholic Church. It seems we can’t approach any issue, have a conversation, or even think about reality itself without it all being invaded by political divides, arguments, and issues.

Politics dominates how we think, where we live, how we act, who we spend time with, the things we choose to spend money on, and more. For the majority of Catholics in the USA politics also impacts how we talk about faith, incorporate doctrines into the day-to-day, what we post online, and more. For some it even impacts their self-identity, how they think about the world, and whether they remain an active part of a parish community.

Politics seems to frame our reality more than God himself, in many respects.

Politics has infected almost every part of modern life and this is NOT GOOD FOR OUR SOULS OR OUR WORLD!

ONE EXAMPLE
This past week the Bishop who is in charge of World Youth Day made a comment that got a lot of people up in arms online. His statement was certainly a troubling one. He said, “We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all.”

The hot takes came fast and furious. Here are some of them I have pulled from different social media platforms:

• “If he doesn't want to convert young people to Christ, he should have become an electrician. It would be much easier on his eternal soul at his particular judgment. Who are these people, and why are they in the church?”
• “He should be banished from the Church!!”
• “Just the way the religious liberty documents of Vatican II wanted. This is the Spirit of the Council at work.”
• “I believe that the institutional Roman Catholic Church will be the basis of a one-world religion in the end times.  Endorsing ecumenism and saying that people don't need to convert to a Christian church only confirms my suspicions.”
• “our church is under attack. pray for God's Will to be done.”
• “I am not sure how much more of this vomit I can take. Lord, please, please, please, bring us a new pope, before the Synod.”

To summarize:

The Pope is the problem...or
The Bishops and the Pope are the problem...or
Vatican II is the problem...or
Evil that has infiltrated the Church is the problem...or
The Synod is the problem...or
A one world religion is the problem...or
All of the above???

Maybe we can agree on one thing - we need to be careful with the quick reactions. I do sometimes. As an FYI - the comments have been clarified (somewhat) and the Bishop has said the context and translation were not considered in the reporting (see link here). Maybe we can take him at his word. Just a thought. Even so, our political framework has failed us. It just doesn't allow us to see things as they truly are. It is a cloudy lens that limits perception.

Right. Left. Conservative. Progressive. Rad Trad. Liberal Catholic. Etc.

I can say this with certainty - God doesn't see the world through a political lens!

BIGGER THAN THIS
This gets me to an even more troubling part of this tendency to politicize everything. Where do we put our faith? Does it lie merely with the men who lead our Church? Do we believe they can destroy it? Do we believe they have that kind of power?

I don’t.

I believe in a completely sovereign God. One who is firmly in control. One who isn’t afraid of my sin or anyone else’s sin. A God who is bigger than scandal, confusion, heresy, and even politics. 

I may be alone in this, but I am tired of blaming every problem in the Church on leaders we may have a disagreement (or many disagreements) with. Catholic leaders who sinned, made terrible statements, or committed grave scandals have always existed. 

• Peter - who denied Jesus publicly and ran away - was made our 1st Pope.
• Paul - who was an accessory to murder - was one of our greatest evangelists.
• You and Me - who are not perfect - but have been re-born into the family of God by baptism.

In other words, we can’t throw the entire Church under the bus for the sins, problems, or politics of others. Furthermore, I believe politics has become an excuse, for some, to maintain the personal status quo (if our leaders aren't saints...why should I be) and not seek holiness for ourselves (log and splinter anyone?).

The only thing you control is your decisions right now. That is it.

The lack of ongoing and deep personal conversion limits real community, friendship, accountability, evangelization, etc. Politics becomes a steady framework that provides easy answers to things I don't control and a way to understand things. Yet, I can't help but think that we sometimes mistake our own political hot takes as a veneer of holiness. SEE MY RIGHTEOUSNESS AS I LOUDLY CALL OUT ALL OF YOU EVIL DOERS!

Think of it this way. If you were in a cloister, without access to media or news, for the past 20 years, would you be upset about most of what you see going on around you in the Church and the world? Probably not. But maybe you would be more upset with your own failure to love God and others. This is what we need. A heart like God's heart.

But you might respond:
-The laity are supposed to be concerned about the world, so we can evangelize it! 
Or 
-How can we correct errors if we don’t know about them! It is the duty of the teacher to teach truth!

Sure thing in both cases. Still, let us examine our motives a bit. I know for me personally, I don’t always react with charity, seek to correct others from true humility, or allow the politics to never make a dent in the peace of Christ if feel. Thus, we have to protect ourselves from these things, because the enemy wants to use politics to:

• Attack our peace
• Get us to react
• Find an avenue into our heartsPlants seeds of doubt
• Have us despair about the future
• Try to control things we don’t control

So, try this instead.
Turn off your computers and phones more.
Pray more.
Spend time with good friends and family without talking about the latest political scandal - whether church politics or cultural politics.
Let God be in control. 
Help me do the same.

Go be a saint and leave the rest to a God who is bigger than any political issues.

Also, maybe slow down when you want to post the next hot take. God bless.