Our Vocation

In Time of War #4

Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this [Second Vatican Council] gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. […] The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ. (Lumen Gentium, §1)

Pope Leo XIV called for peace. He insists that this is not a political message directed at the American President. Rather, it is a message for us, especially for Catholics^[*] to be read in the context of our vocation to Christ’s mission. We are responsible for our country and the salvation of our neighbors.

The United States is doing poorly. Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, our nation’s commitment to abortion has remained constant. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion policy organization, the number of abortions in 2023, the year after the Dobbs decision, increased to 1,037, 000. This represents an increase of eleven percent over the year 2020. Even though abortion is no longer a constitutionally protected right, the practice remains. During this time, state governments—such as California, Illinois and New Jersey—have sought, on specious grounds, to close crisis pregnancy centers. Most abortions today are pharmaceutical abortions, which are supposed to make it easier for women. In fact, it helps the boyfriend or husband, who can say, “Just get a pill to get rid of it.” And if the woman has second thoughts, the pro-abortion forces work to prevent her from taking a reversal medication. These do not always work, of course, but it may not be permitted at all that the abortion be stopped. American culture wants to kill babies that are not expressly wanted.

We don’t want children. Our national fertility rate is 1.6 births per woman, which means that we are not having enough children to maintain our population. Children are no longer a blessing, but a life-style choice. Large families are an aberration. To keep them sedated and out of our hair, we provide children with screens to introduce them to teenage fantasy worlds of TikTok challenges and gender confusion. Despairing of their growing in moral maturity, we give our daughters birth control pills and HPV vaccines. And we send most of them to poorly functioning public schools where academic achievement is a symptom of white supremacy.

We don’t marry. Young people don’t date. Romance and courtship are gone. Cohabitation without marriage is becoming the statistical norm. Marriage is delayed. Love is simply a risky bet for the young. Even sex is happening less often, as pornography becomes endemic. Most children have their first exposure to porn before their teenage years, and young men are at serious risk of becoming addicted before they are sixteen. With stimulating videos on the privacy of one’s phone, interaction with a real person is hardly worth it.

Mexico is a mess. The Federal Government struggles to keep on top of drug cartels which control large parts of the country. Police departments are often corrupted, and mayors know that by interfering with the cartel they or their families can be shot. The problem is in Mexico, but the cause is to the north—in the United States. A business without a market quickly dries up. We norteamericanos are the lucrative market for the cartels. We need our pleasures.

Besides all this, we do not like each other. Sixty years ago, parents would be disturbed if a child wanted to marry someone of another race. Today, interracial marriage is uncontroversial—we have come a long way in race relations; look at the families portrayed in TV ads—but for a Republican daughter to think of marrying someone’s Democrat son is a family crisis. We have discussions in the media about the advisability of inviting Uncle Harry, the MAGA Trumper, or Uncle Louie, the Bernie Bro, to eat with the rest of the family. Far too often political alliances determine who can be friends or even tolerable acquaintances. Americans are divided from each other into almost irreconcilable camps.

The Vatican Council tells us Catholics that “the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race.” This means that the community formed by the followers of Christ are to be the dynamic core of unity within the American populace. We are instructed, “The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.” The work of the Church—your work and mine—is urgent. This is our mission.

What is this work? The Gospel commandment is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and, further, to love your neighbor as yourself. Regarding the first part, we are commanded by God himself, no less, to be deeply and seriously religious. Go to church. Say grace before meals. Be open and explicit about our faith. Pray, and pray often. Every day, pray. If we are to fulfill our mission—which pertains not only to Catholics, of course—we must pray.

The second part of the commandment is just as serious. Love your neighbor. America is falling apart even as we are about to celebrate 250 years of independence. Loving our American neighbors demands that we care for our nation’s dreadful condition. This means we need to love children and, in appropriate ways, care for them. Encourage them to become wise and virtuous adults. We should renounce our silly lusts and cravings, whether porn-inspired masturbation, online gaming, or indulgence in drugs. (And if you can’t handle any of this, get help. It is your responsibility.)

We must have a heart for each other. In another document, Gaudium et Spes, Vatican Council wrote,

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. (Gaudium et Spes, §1)

So, all those Americans in your life—your next-door neighbor, Uncle Harry the MAGA Trumper and Uncle Louie the Bernie Bro, those people with a drawl from Mississippi, Californians, and even (gasp) New Yorkers—their hopes and joys, their griefs and anxieties are all our griefs, anxieties, hopes and joys. We have received the love of God, and we experience it every day. We must share this love. Our nation needs us to.

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^[*] I’m a Catholic writing with fellow Catholics in mind. Everything I say here should be worthwhile to other Christians, too. I hope so.