December 30, 2018 - "Beatitudes of the Politician"

Happy New Year every one!  As you read this column I will be in Las Vegas, NV visiting my sister and brother and their families.  You may not have realized that in addition to being the first day of the New Year, January 1, 2019 is the fifty-second World Day of Peace.  Pope Francis has made several observations about good politics being at the service of peace in his message for the World Day of Peace. In talking about the challenge of good politics, Pope Francis notes that “Political office and political responsibility thus constantly challenge those called to the service of their country to make every effort to protect those who live there and to create the conditions for a worthy and just future.  If exercised with basic respect for life, freedom and dignity of persons, political life can indeed become an outstanding form of charity.
 
In his message for the fifty-second World Day of Peace, Pope Francis recalls the “Beatitudes of the Politician,” proposed by Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (1928-2002):
 
Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep understanding of his role.
Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies credibility.
Blessed be the politician who works for the common good and not for his or her own interest.
Blessed be the politician who remains constant.
Blessed be the politician who works for unity.
Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish radical change.
Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening.
Blessed be the politician who is without fear.
 
After quoting these “Beatitudes of the Politician,” Pope Francis observes that every election and re-election, and every stage of public life, is an opportunity to return to the original point of reference that inspire justice and law.  The Holy Father believes that it is certain that good politics is at the service of peace.  Good politics also respects and promotes fundamental human rights, which are at the same time mutual obligations that enable a bond of trust and gratitude to be forged between present and future generations.
 
At the end of his message for the fifty-second World Day of Peace, Pope Francis recalls that we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in the wake of the Second World War.  In this context, it is also good to remember the observation of Pope Saint John XXIII:  “Man’s awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the recognition of his duties.  The possession of rights involves a duty of implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man’s personal dignity.  And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect by others.”

Pope Francis continues his observations by noting that peace is the fruit of a great political project grounded in the mutual responsibility and interdependence of human beings.  It is at the same time a challenge that demands being taken up ever anew.  Peace entails a conversion of heart and soul.  Peace is both interior and communal and has three inseparable aspects:
 
· Peace with oneself, rejecting inflexibility, anger, and impatience; in the words of St. Francis de Sales, showing a bit of sweetness toward oneself” in order to offer “a bit of sweetness to others”;
· Peace with others:  family members, friends, strangers, the poor and the suffering, being unafraid to encounter them and listen to what they have to say;
· Peace with all creation, rediscovering the grandeur of God’s gift and our individual and share responsibility as inhabitants of this world and citizens and builders of the future.
 
In his concluding remarks Pope Francis states that the politics of peace, conscious of and deeply concerned for every situation of human vulnerability, can always draw inspiration from the Magnificat, the hymn that Mary, the Mother of Christ the Savior and Prince of Peace, sang in the name of all humankind:  “He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.  He has shown the strength of his arms; he has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly…for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever” (Luke 1:50-55).
 
Happy New Year once again to one and all!
Until next week,
Fr. John