“From my time working in impoverished neighborhoods with the Catholic Church in Chicago, to my travels as president, I have seen firsthand how every single day; Catholic communities, priests, nuns, laity, they are feeding the hungry, healing the sick, sheltering the homeless, educating our children, and fortifying the face that sustains so many.
“And what is true in America is true around the world. From the busy streets of Buenos Aires to the remote villages in Kenya; Catholic organizations serve the poor, minister the prisoners, build schools, build homes, operate orphanages and hospitals, and just as the church has stood with those struggling to break the chains of poverty, the church so often has given voice and hope to those seeking to break the chains of violence and oppression.”
These were the words of acknowledgement spoken by President Barack Obama in a speech welcoming the Holy Father Pope Francis to the United States.
How interesting that a president whose policies mostly run opposite from Catholic belief would not only publicly acknowledge but lift up the work done by Catholic people and organizations.
As I listened to President Obama celebrate the good work of Catholics around the world, I began to wonder why Catholics don’t tell this story more often.
Are we so humble that we forget to even acknowledge the good things our faith and our believers have accomplished?
If you follow Catholic news, blogs, social media it can seem rather angry sometimes. Because of the political battles over issues like abortion, the death penalty, the Affordable Health Care Act, the redefinition of marriage and religious liberty one can get the impression that all Catholics do best is stand against something. At times it seems like the picture painted by Catholics is a somber portrait of a ship sinking under the waves of a culture seeking to wash away its messages, standards and tradition.
What if we took a moment and reflected on what even our harshest critics attribute to us? What if we turn the boat around and begin to celebrate the very things we do well—some of the very things pointed out by our non-Catholic president?
What if instead of complaining about how difficult it is to be Catholic in today’s society we concentrated on how liberating our beliefs are and how much joy they bring to our lives and the lives of those we serve?
What if we took the energy we use in disagreement and apologetics and channeled it into “feeding the hungry, healing the sick, sheltering the homeless, educating our children, and fortifying the face that sustains so many,” as our President pointed out.
And what if we took time to share with others the stories about our Catholic religious and laity in every place on earth at every hour of every day who are busy serving the poor, ministering to prisoners, building schools, building homes, operating orphanages and hospitals, and standing with those struggling to break the chains of poverty?
What if we took the time to give thanks and celebrate our work as Catholics in giving voice and hope to those seeking to break the chains of violence and oppression? And what if we joyfully and kindly reminded our friends and neighbors that we do all these things every hour of every day not because the people we serve are Catholic but we do it because we are Catholics called to serve and to lead like Jesus.
What if we concentrated more on all the living examples of Jesus’ teachings that we see in our communities and parishes and worked harder on being one of those examples?
President Obama said to Pope Francis, “You remind us that in the eyes of God, our measure as individuals and our measure as a society is not determined by wealth or power or station or celebrity but how well we hew to Scripture’s call to lift the poor and the marginalized.”
Perhaps it’s time for us Catholics to be that reminder too. It’s time to recognize the good we can and do accomplish and to resolve to switch our wiring from the negative to the positive and begin to live inspirational lives and share our inspirational stories.