Trusting in God and Praying for Leadership

 

Today’s gospel about the widow and the judge is a lesson about the importance of trusting in God.  He will always give us what we need, even if it’s not exactly what we want in the moment.  As a conservative Catholic, I have to admit that I’ve been quite frustrated lately with the way things are going in our country and praying for better.  I hope and pray that our nation will eventually return to its Christian heritage and values, and that we will someday elect leaders with the courage to restore our nation’s culture to one that promotes and rewards leading a virtuous life, rather than imposing a culture of death which is destroying the vitality of our nation. 

We are witnessing a complete failure of leadership among our elected officials.  All the talk and news about the government shutdown has drowned out any candid or serious discussion about the very real problems we face as a country.  The federal budget, the debt-ceiling, and the failure of Obamacare to launch successfully, are merely symptoms of a much greater problem facing the nation.  Our national debt now exceeds our entire national economy, and the unfunded liability for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is approaching $100 Trillion (with a “T”), but you’d think the world was coming to an end because we shut down less than 20% of government spending for a couple weeks, and the national parks were closed temporarily.

When Senator Ted Cruz stood up to address the serious underlying problems our nation faces, even the members of his own party abandoned him, knowing that it is political suicide to discuss the changes we will have to make if we are ever to live within our means.  When I think of the top leaders of our federal government, (the President, the Senate Majority leader, and the Speaker of the House), I’m reminded of the three monkeys with their hands over their eyes, ears, and mouth: See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.  None of them are willing to admit that we are in the midst of a huge crisis, much less propose realistic solutions because it would require significant and unpopular change.  Of course the media was quick to assign blame for all this, and most of the criticism was leveled at Senator Cruz and the Republicans, as if telling the truth about our nation’s problems is loathsome.   I have to admit, I’m angry at the Republicans too, not because they “shut down the government,” but rather, because they are so timid and afraid to act, preferring instead to cave in to political pressure.  If every Republican had the courage of Ted Cruz and a few others, we’d have a pretty good chance of addressing the real problems we face, instead of giving in to a President who refuses to work with Congress unless they accept his every demand. 

Today’s scripture is a refreshing reminder that faith in God is far more important than whatever crises we and our nation may face.  Despite my frustration with our political leadership, I have to remind myself that God will indeed answer my prayers for our country.  Fortunately, there are modern prophets among us, calling us back to the word of God, and reminding us that we are more than just materialistic bodies.  One such modern prophet getting a lot of attention lately, even in the secular press, is our new pope, Francis.  He has been surprising everyone with his message and example of simplicity, faith, and love.  Hardly a week goes by without the national news carrying a story about Pope Francis.  They seem almost giddy with excitement that the new pope might “modernize” the church, inferring that Catholic teaching is out of touch with modern reality, especially with regard to women’s issues, marriage and the priesthood.  They don’t seem to realize that Pope Francis is thoroughly Catholic and has a long history of upholding and defending the Church’s positions on abortion, marriage, and the priesthood.  What I find exciting about this is that the new pope is drawing attention to the values and traditions of the Church, attracting people to consider what the Church has to say about the life issues.  He is bringing attention to the New Evangelization already underway, and presenting it as new and exciting, at a time when the Culture of Death seems to have most of the Western world firmly in its grip.  Pope Francis’ simplicity, as evidenced by his humble lifestyle and down-to-earth language, are endearing him to the world, both Catholic and otherwise. 

In the midst of so much turmoil in the world and in our country, the pope’s message of faith, hope and charity is not only refreshing and invigorating, it is also attractive to many who are badly in need of some good news.  Perhaps he is the answer to my prayers, engaging the world in such a way as to point out the evils of the culture of death, and the dangers of an over-reaching government that imposes its values on people, forcing them to violate their religious beliefs, while accumulating mountains of debt to be handed down to future generations.  Thank God for Pope Francis, and for the hope that he brings to our troubled world.