While written for my local Knights of Columbus Council Newsletter, the issue of unity is an important one for our Church. It is also important for our country. I am afraid that we have forgotten our national unity as well as our need for oneness with God and each other as part of His family.
“All the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Cor 12:12
Unity is a theme of the Knights of Columbus. We are one family, all brothers. Thus, unlike the 3 Dog Night song, “One,” for us, is NOT the loneliest number. In fact, it is a very important number. Think of our prayers: “I believe in ONE God;” “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church; one God in three persons; ONE Church; “and in Jesus Christ, His only (i.e., one) begotten son; “I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ;” “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins;” and so on. We are also part of the “communion of Saints, the Church Militant here on earth, the Church Suffering in Purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven.
Our nation is one. E pluribus unum – out of many one. “One nation, under God.” Benjamin Franklin reminded us, “United we stand, divided we fall.” We must remember that we are not only brothers as Knights, but we are all unified by our own families, the body of Christ, and, by extension, the family of God. As Catholics we have a responsibility to vote, and we need to keep unity in mind as we go to the polls. We need to vote for our faith, our families and against the divisiveness that is pitting Americans against each other, citizens against police, people who have no faith against people of faith, and remember that we are not only Christians, but also Americans. The Constitution has its basis in Judeo-Christian principles and our rights are given to us by God and only enumerated in the Constitution. Our votes should be guided by our well-formed consciences and for Christian principles and against intrinsic evils and harmful policies. The words of St. John Paul II are a guide, “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all inalienable rights are founded and from which they develop.” Evangelium Vitae
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