When you read this reflection it will be after the election, and if you are like me, you are happy it is over and can honestly say “Phew!” Or is it over? And the “it” is all the rancor and lack of civility and division. I would have liked to hope that the result of the election would bring about joy and love and peace to everyone’s heart, but that would indeed be an answer to prayer! But, as I have in the past, I will accept and trust the results of this year’s election, notwithstanding the naysayers.

I have had the opportunity to deliver two homilies during the campaign and have tried to be non-partisan and listen to the Sacred Scriptures, which are the basis of homilies. I think any preacher or homilist knew that preaching in an election year is like walking in a mine field and would probably prefer to hide in the cellar until it was over. Yet the Gospel of the two Sundays of my homilies provided some criteria for deciding on one’s vote – the first (Mark 10:35-45) described the conversation of two disciples asking to share in Jesus leadership, and the second (Mark 12:28-34) was a scribe asking Jesus what the greatest commandment was. The former outlined the qualities of what makes a good leader and the later reiterated the need for love of God and one another as the criteria for our decisions. Through it all, I learned a few things.

First of all, there is the temptation of seeing everything as related to politics. As Pope Francis said, “Politics matter because people matter,” but when politics get in the way of families and friendships and the way we look at others, then we have lost our perspective on what is important. Also, there was the temptation of seeing our voting decisions as advancing the kingdom of a political party and its agenda, rather than the Kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is about the promotion of the dignity of every person, love, mercy, civility and justice. Hopefully, in the end, our vote was not a matter of deciding between the lesser of two evils but rather how it promoted the common good. And, as always, it comes down to how we love one another.

Regardless of how people voted, we need to trust in the system we have for voting which has never been found to be unreliable. To trust in the system is really to trust our neighbors and friends who, despite the pressures, gave of their time to work the polls. One of the nicest feedbacks I received for one of my homilies was from one of those workers who appreciated the kind and supportive words rather than the negative comments on social media. Let us pray for our newly elected officials who will try to navigate the troubled waters of the political arena. Let us also pray for ourselves that we support our elected officials in the promotion of the common good, and will be true to what Jesus teaches and shows us.

– Fr. Dennis Lynch