Homily by The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., Diocese of Belleville
November 6, 2024, 5:10 PM Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Chapel, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

This homily was delivered by the Bishop prior to delivering an address on eschatology to members of the university community.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Are you happy that it is finally over? The weeks of endless campaigning, constant TV ads, attacks, and counterattacks? You may have eagerly supported the candidate who won. So, you may be relieved, hopeful, and even rejoicing. You may have eagerly supported the candidate who lost. So, you may be angry, discouraged, and even depressed.

Days before the election, Pope Francis, to the surprise of many, observed that American voters were faced with discerning which candidate holds positions that can be considered the “lesser of two evils.” The Pope said both candidates are “against life.” One candidate holds views that do not respect the dignity and value of innocent human life developing in a mother’s womb. The other candidate holds views that do not respect the dignity and value of the immigrant and the migrant desperately seeking to escape poverty, persecution, and suffering.

The Roman Pontiff then asked, “Which is the lesser evil? I don’t know. Each American citizen must think and decide according to his or her own conscience.” Many American Catholics were surprised that the Pope did not simply state which position was, in fact, the lesser of two evils. He did not say, “Obviously, this candidate’s positions are clearly the greater of two evils,” or, “Obviously, that candidate’s positions are clearly the lesser of two evils.” Some Catholics would have been happier if the Holy Father had told them there is only one candidate for whom a Catholic could vote in good conscience. Other Catholics are grateful that the Pope realized that Catholics weighed many different lesser and greater evils when they voted, choosing between flawed candidates.

Still, other Catholics may have preferred the Pope to have remained silent rather that adding to their moral dilemma by charging each Christian to prayerfully discern whom they thought was the better candidate.

You may have noticed that during the campaign, both candidates spoke of the importance of God and the Christian faith in their lives when it was opportune to do so, however neither candidate spoke about faith with any depth. Nor did they speak about the cost of discipleship or the manner in which their faith informed their views concerning the complex political, economic, social, ethical, and moral dilemmas that confront the President of the United States each day.

In this evening’s Gospel, Luke 14:25-33, Jesus seems to do all He can discourage us from following Him. He seems to say, no reasonable person would seriously consider becoming His disciple, since a disciple of His must place Jesus above her or his family, friends, political views and even her or his own life. One must be willing to take up the cross and follow Him. A few verses earlier, we heard that “great crowds were traveling with Jesus.” They were merely “traveling with Him,” not “following Him” as disciples. He knew that many were traveling with Him because they were happy to accompany the popular rabbi and eager to witness more of His amazing power. They thought Jesus might use this power to bring about a royal kingdom of heaven, a new political order here on earth. When we travel with someone, we can decide whether to go out to dinner with them or not. It is a casual way of being with someone, requiring a minimal amount of commitment. But Jesus, on His final journey to Jerusalem before the Crucifixion, tells the crowd bluntly, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus is telling them and all of us that we must strive to do more than casually “travel with” Him out of curiosity. The choice to follow Him is a radical, spiritual, life-changing decision. It touches us far more deeply than, for example, the decision to study or teach at the Catholic University of America or support a particular candidate for the presidency. Jesus is uttering a very hard saying that, ultimately, challenges us at the core of our being. Will we truly follow Him as His disciples, even if other people, including those we care about deeply entice us to selfishly ignore His Law of Love, “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as you love yourself?”

Today, we are necessarily thinking about the full implications of yesterday’s election. It is clear that the candidate who won holds positions that may lead the United States in directions very different from the direction in which the candidate who lost would lead the country. Those who make up the community of Catholic University are almost certainly not of one mind concerning which direction is better and which direction the “lesser of two evils.” But gathered here to reflect on the Word of God and to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, we are challenged to contemplate something of far greater importance: the challenge to think seriously about what it means to live the Christian life in the midst of swirling debates about conflicting social, political, international, and moral issues. If we are truly living the Christian life, we must come to terms with the realization that our relationship with Jesus Christ and our Catholic faith are not a superficial, minor dimension of our lives. It is something so radical that we must strive to love our neighbors as ourselves, even those neighbors whose presidential vote was the opposite of our own. This is why we celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, as reminders that we, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, are not looking for “cheap grace.” We, like Bonhoeffer, are asking God to give us the grace we need to be willing to pay “the cost of discipleship.” We have the great example of Saint Martin de Porres, and the examples of faith Saint Augustine of Hippo in North Africa, Saint Josephine Bakhita, Venerable Henriette DeLille, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, and Franciscan Sister Thea Bowman, who we honor during African American History Month, and whose images are displayed in the windows of this chapel.

These true followers of Christ remind us by their grace-filled lives that it is not enough to “travel with” Christ; we must “follow” Him. This means more than going to Mass occasionally and praying from time to time, while remaining selfish and living in conformity to the secular humanism of American culture. If we are following Christ, we must daily hear His call, a call that makes Him the moral compass of our daily lives. However, I can tell you from personal experience, this is not easy. Indeed, it is the work of a lifetime. The fierce arguments, debates, quarrels, and emotional upheavals that many people have experienced may be making it more difficult for some Catholics to live the Christian life with true authenticity.

If we are striving to be true disciples, taking up the cross each day and following Him, the Christian life may be within our reach. This is not easy. It is the work of a lifetime.

Does the fact that the candidate for whom you voted is now president-elect challenge or enable you to live the Christian life more authentically?

Does the fact that the candidate for whom you voted was defeated challenge or enable you to live the Christian life more authentically?

Or does the world of politics have no impact on your life of faith? Does your life of faith have no impact on the world of politics? Remember this: sometimes in politics, as in daily life, the one who loses wins and the one who wins loses.

The great Abraham Lincoln understood well our present dilemma. Ponder these words from his sublime second inaugural address: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves.”

Praised be Jesus Christ. Both now and forever. Amen!