There has definitely been an overabundance of blame and finger pointing in our Congress lately.  It is true that there is a certain amount of concern for the good of the American people but we would be naive to believe that there is no political motivation behind the hemming and hawing of our political leaders.  Members of both houses are running scared that they will be left holding the bag and losing the upcoming election.  It is sad but it is the reality.

    As Catholic citizens of our great country we must take the next few weeks before the election to do some serious thinking on a number of issues.  The complexity of the issues can be narrowed down somewhat if we examine them one at the time.  I will discuss several issues over the next four or five weeks.  The issues will be divided in the following manner.
l.  The Right to Life and Dignity for the Human person as well as a call to Family & Community
2. The Rights and Responsibilities of Catholics especially toward the poor and Vulnerable
3. Justice and Solidarity for the Workers and the Minorities
4. Caring for God’s Creation through our concern for the environment

    As Catholics we are very well aware that we must have a distinct view on the right to life.  We know that all human life is sacred.  Direct attacks on any life, both born and unborn is unacceptable.  These attacks include abortion, euthanasia, human cloning and the destruction of human embryos for research. (It is our responsibility to be well read on these topics and not to allow our store of information to be fed by hearsay or short sound bites through the media.  For example, there is now a way to do stem cell research without using human embryos.)

    The Right to Life is not limited to the above categories however.  We must also be aware that Catholics are obliged to oppose genocide, (such as in Darfur), torture, unjust war, and the unnecessary use of the death penalty.  It is also our responsibility to pursue Peace and all types of conditions that demean human life.  These two paragraphs alone give us a tremendous amount of food for thought.

    A second topic to which Catholics must give their attention is the Call to Family & Community.  The family is the fundamental unit of our society.  Our political leaders are obliged to support the economic and social policies that will allow families to survive.  How we are organized with respect to economics and politics through law and public policy if very important. 
    One aspect that many people forget however, is that we are all responsible for participating in the shaping of our society.  We cannot shrug this responsibility simply because we are too busy, too jaded or apathetic. We may not have to join picket lines or volunteer for political campaigns but we must take the time to educate ourselves on the issues and we must take the time to vote.  We must make an effort to overcome apathy. 

    Please take some time to reflect on these two topics this week.  It is our duty as Americans and as Catholic Christians.
                             Lorette P. Nault