Through the prophet Isaiah, God proclaims, “I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me.” (Is 45,4) There is only one source of life, of truth and of goodness – the Lord. Even though Cyrus does not know the Lord, it is the Lord who is working through him to bring about the good for his people Israel. When we serve the true, the good and the just, we are serving the Lord. There is only one eternal truth and one way that leads to the universal good, the way of God. There are many seemingly powerful leaders in our world today that want us to believe that something is true simply because they say that it is true. However, a person’s status does not guarantee a truth, and even if many people accept the word of that person, it still does not make what they assert any more true. We have seen in history how much harm has come to the world and its people by false claims made by deceptive leaders. There has been much discussion by our recent Popes about the “dictatorship of relativism” that is causing much harm to people and societies today. “What belongs to Caesar” is often illusive, limited and fleeting and based upon the dictates of Caesar. It doesn’t have true, lasting value and often will not lead to the true common good for all people. “What belongs to God” is eternal, true, real and will serve the common good of all people for all time.
As a people of the Lord we are called to “repay to…God what belongs to God.” We are responsible to seek to establish a way of life that is consistent with God’s way and is in accordance with the truth. There is a legitimate autonomy of politics from religion but there should be no separation between human values and divine, eternal values. Politics cannot exempt itself from ethics and morality. Our country with its rights and freedoms has been established on human values that are written in our constitution. These human values owe their authority and power to the extent that they are informed by eternal, objective, divine truths that respect the human dignity of each person. A truly great nation is built upon values that reflect their closeness to God and his divine, eternal truths, even if there is not a recognized, established relationship to God.
The Bishops of the Church remind us, “The Church’s obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith, a part of the mission given to us by Jesus Christ. Faith helps us see more clearly the truth about human life and dignity that we also understand through human reason. As people of both faith and reason, Catholics are called to bring truth to political life and to practice Christ’s commandment to “love one another” (Jn 13:34). According to Pope Benedict XVI, “charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as ‘social charity’” (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, no. 29).” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship) Our mission is to bring God’s love and truth to all people and to be faithful witnesses to that truth and goodness in our lives. We belong to God and we must bear his image and inscription in our lives. When we vote, we have an opportunity to leave the mark of God’s way upon the world that we live in. We can touch the world and leave a mark of truth, love and goodness upon it. Pray, discern and then allow the finger of God to touch the world through your vote!