Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah on the Presidential Election: Election, What Election?

By Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah
11/10/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

It is not who is in the oval office that gives me confidence that God will be merciful

Therefore, I ask, "election, what election?" Not meaning that I do not pay attention to who is the President of America. Rather, meaning that it is not the results of an election that determine whether I have hope in the mercy of Christ.

Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah, a former Anglican now Catholic Priest

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DES MOINES, IA (Catholic Online) - In thinking about the recent Presidential election, I have been praying for one thing more than anything else.

No, it was not for either candidate to win or lose. It is difficult to choose between the options when neither appears qualified. There were times when I hoped that neither candidate would win, but the other options were no better.

I have felt for years now that anyone who really wants to be a part of the political system in Washington D.C. is either an amazingly strong and brave man, or he is crazy. Who would really enjoy jumping into that muck?

So here we are looking to the future and seeing the likelihood that we are going to move further down the scale into socialism, and we need to realize that communism is just around the corner. We fought it for years (and mocked those who accepted it), and now we have people saying "I'm all for it if it will help us" (exactly as people said with Lenin).

What, then, is it that I have been praying for? Mercy. I have prayed, "Lord keep this nation under thy care" and "guide us in the way of justice and truth". I believe that He will answer this prayer for mercy, but that does not mean that He will answer it in the way that we desire.

If we have been putting our hopes in a politician, then we are eventually going to be disappointed. They are not Jesus Christ, so they cannot live up to His perfection. They will always fail at one time or another.

Therefore, I ask, "election, what election?" Not meaning that I do not pay attention to who is the President of America. Rather, meaning that it is not the results of an election that determine whether I have hope in the mercy of Christ.

It is not who is in the oval office that gives me confidence that God will be merciful.

For sometimes, God's mercy comes in unexpected ways. Sometimes it comes through the ministrations of wicked men. Yes, God can even use the foolishness of a man who advocates murdering innocent babies (like Herod, or President Obama) to open an avenue for mercy.

No, we do not want to encourage wicked leaders, but we cannot place our hope in the righteousness of our leaders. Only Christ can fulfill that hope. Only His righteousness will never fail.

Yes, there are some politicians who could do a better job than others, and yes there are some whose understanding of civil government accords with the Catholic Church's teaching on social and economic issues. Yet, we cannot put our hope in them. For with them, or without them, the Lord God can still protect His people and show them His mercy.

I would even say that we should be thanking God for doing what He knows is best for us. Will He use our current President for our good? Of course He will; but, once again, it may not be in the manner that we expect.

God promises to be merciful to us, so if we believe those promises and we pray for Him to fulfill them, we can have perfect confidence that He will do so. We can also rest assured that He will do so in the manner that is best for us (as Scripture says so often--Rom 8:28).

This means that God has chosen to bless us through the particular trial of having a President come against the Church. What our current commander in chief is advocating is not only a destruction of the religious freedom that our forefathers fought so hard to achieve, but also a further entrenchment of the current practice of war on the womb.

I cannot tell what this will lead to precisely, but one thing is definite: it will lead to a strengthening of the Catholic Church in America. Yes, it will likely also lead to a shrinking of the Church, for (as always happens in times of trial) it will weed out those who are unwilling to suffer for the sake of Christ.

We have been enjoying the blessings of the past for a long time, and this means that we have become a bit lax in our faith. In this fallen world, the Church grows best when she is persecuted. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

As I said, once again, I prayed for mercy. I continue to pray for mercy. I pray that God will be merciful to grant us strength to stand true to the faith of our fathers. I pray that those who are weak in their faith (or who have compromised much of it away) will be encouraged to revive their spirits.

I pray for our children. They are the ones who will likely have to endure the consequences of our actions today, and I know that they will need a powerful sense of tradition and the dogmas of Mother Church.

Without a strong anchor, they will falter, and we are responsible to nurture them in a way that gives them that strong anchor. May we all persevere in whatever God sends our way, and may we each be bold to confess Jesus before all men. God have mercy on us.

-----

This article originally appeared on The Macceaban, the Blog of Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah, a former Anglican now Catholic Priest. His blog is a "running commentary by a former Anglican priest who was baptized Catholic, kidnapped from the Church in his youth, and found his way back through the blessings of Anglican spirituality."

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Election, politics, persecution, anglican use, pastoral provision, holiness, mission, Mercy, Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah

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1 - 10 of 28 Comments

Therese Ann Lawton
6 months ago
Dear Father:
Thank you for your encouraging words in a difficult time. Yes let's not forget the innocent victims of abortion. Yes let's pray for those who do not see the evil of their ways. Let's not forget other vulnerable groups targeted by their policies, the elderly, the sick elderly. Many of them are affraid they will be abandoned and denied medical care. The selfish generation that elected a president who will pay for their health care casts aside the elderly. They send them to nursing homes instead of taking them into their homes and caring for them as they were once provided for. These are the real tragedies of our society. The selfishness and sense of entitlement, the lack of responsibility and lack of love. Yes let's pray. We christians must protect the elderly. It is our duty.
judy claar
6 months ago
Rob, Politics was a lot more dirtier more than > 40 years ago! Check history. Check the first Catholic that ran for office. Check the Prohibition years. Just speaking of small civil authorities in the '60s and before, wife and child beating was permissible...mostly. By that I mean, there were no laws on the books addressing that issue, and most people just turned their heads and looked the other way. A lot of good has been done. Equality is another one. I knew it where I was growing up in Ca., but others in different parts of the country did not. So, if we investigated the laws on the books since the '60s, some things have indeed changed for the better. God has always been with us. Blessings...
Rob
6 months ago
Judy, I strongly believe that only when the work in the Church is done, do we have any hope of changing the culture. 40 years of politics has virtually accomplished nothing.
Celia
6 months ago
Well said Father God does work in mysterious ways & I hope & prayer for the best for all.
Joe
6 months ago
Vance, Thank you for your comment. I wish there were a way that we could do something about it. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe this web site could offer ideas?
judy claar
6 months ago
Father Seriah sounds like my mom. Naturally your words Father are True. One just has to review Church history, or read the Bible and words of the Holy Saints. In saying this, I mean to show in what way you lead us in Faith, Trust, Truth and Humility. You put our situation into a holy perspective for us. A humbling one.

However, there are also those of us who can understand and relate with your words of wisdom,
while at the same time feel the Spirit wanting to act; to do something within the Church, that leaves a person hot and not lukewarm in their Faith. In their Values. In living their Catholic lives as True Examples. Truly we feel the Call to prayer. Now we wait for what Our Lord has in store. Blessings...

Taking your views of prayer and mercy, and God's Will, then joining those thoughts with an active and Guided Catholic Spirit, would seem good to me. Blessings Everyone...
judy claar
6 months ago
Tom McGuire: Good for our Holy Father for Not choosing someone from EU who is mostly dead to the Faith. The U.S. follows not far behind, except for a few...and we need them! Liberalism changing to Socialism, with Communism perhaps not far behind. Pope Benedict needs to choose Real Shepherds.We do have some as I said, but we need them! Blessings...
Carl
6 months ago
Eddie, I understand the tone of your frustration. And I do not totally disagree - the Church has a marketing opportunity. We saw this in response to the sexual abuse scandals which rocked the Church. And yet again, with this most-recent election. The Church must readily point to and acknowledge evil, even when that evil is contained within.

One of the most-enlightenting homilies I have heard in our current parish dealt with the Church and its opposition to abortion. Our leadership on pro-life advocacy must be rooted in our love for one another; we will never defeat this evil with our own hatred for it. No, it is our love of life, rooted in our Father, which will ultimately win over evil. We likewise cannot defeat statism and its co-opting of social justice with hatred for the state. Instead, our own good works and love for our neighbor will defeat this belief in secular solutions.

Lastly, we must all look to the USCCB for their leadership. Being one with the Body, we must also hold our bishops to account. I have been hopeful this election season that the USCCB will see the secular progressives for what they are, and reject their platform in toto.
Walter Welborn
6 months ago
My friends in Central America told me in 07 we have it easy, only to vote for the lesser of two evils. Killing babies, same sex marriage, not wanting to have children all against God. Pro life, male and female marriage, wanting children, for God. The other thing is either keeping God in our Country are not. My decision was made on wanting God and what He wants ! JMJ
Esther M Ventura Ferencz
6 months ago
Beautifully written article Fr. C. I just take issue w.one point. And that was the statement where you pointed out NEITHER man was qualified. I think I can safely say? At least w.Mr. Romney, we would have HAD our religious freedoms unattacked. There would be lesser abortions as to the withdrawl of support to PPH and the overseas monies for abortions. There is more..... He would NOT HAVE allowed this man marrying man and woman marrying woman business to now be possibly be determined as a law for the entire nation.

I am deeply disturbed as to the number of Catholics who are just Catholic in name. And they have chosen to side via their vote w.a NON GOD BELIEVING MAN in Obama.YES, there s sufficient evidence to believe this is so....... As Jesus so stated. Chpt/Verse not sure. BUT He said when 'the I return will there be any who are for me left? One of YOU?' I know I parapharsed this but its the general meaning. I am so ashamed of AMERICANS, that they would act as Judus, for a few dollars of cash, they slapped Christ, and his Church in the face...............................As to 'Jesus Mercy?'/. That has been the rallying cry at all Liturgys of my Cathoic Byzantine Faith since I can recall as a small child..... On my parents headstone my mother selected the words 'My Jesus Mercy'. w.the Byzantine cross under the words....she did this in 1965 when her father died, and she and dad selected their stone ahead of time.....This 'My Jesus Mercy' also rests on my grandparents stone , which lays next to my parents. SO NOW more than ever when I sit in the pew at Litgury and 'My Jesus Mercy' along w. crys for it never to cease, and the incense raising up to heaven carrying this cry for mercy. I shall see America, as she was, not as she is NOW. Socialist. leading to Communisim. FOR SURE. "My Jesus Mercy'. Let the persecution start at full throttle, for it shall.

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