The need for purple
I love being an American. I know that I have hit the jackpot when it comes ovarian roulette, as college professor once described it. I also love being Catholic. But there are times in our modern day that make it very difficult for me to love being both at the same time. My heart and my mind can be come divided.
It is well known and agreed upon that our country is divided. You can see this in our politics, our news, and sadly even our churches.
We’ve made sport out of our division. We look for where the other side has slipped up and our side can take the lead. We stick to the media sources that paint our team in the best light. We avoid others because they don’t give our side a fair shake or perhaps they even just lie about us.
Even in our church, we avoid particular parishes because we perceive them as too progressive or too traditional. We pick and choose which bishops we respect and follow because they promote this issue or that. We even perceive our chief shepherd on Earth as greatest pope who has ever lived or that he was sent by the devil.
This must stop.
I can see and understand the need for some type of polarity between political parties and sports teams. Republicans have different priorities than Democrats and often times they are at odds with the other.
Catholics, however, are supposed to be recognizable by our unity. We are unified in our shared faith in Jesus Christ and our goal: reigning with him in heaven. How do we get there? By following the commands of our Lord: preaching the Gospel, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, aiding the sick, protecting human life.
These issues do not fit neatly into our American political dichotomy; it doesn’t take a moral theologian or a political operative to realize that. Because of this we are often unable to get everything when we consume mass media or when we vote.
Despite this challenge, we tend to pick one side or the other and pitch our tent in the camps I described above. It is the easiest path to participating our political system and our society.
Often times, we try to do the calculus of picking a candidate or a party. “Candidate A supports more of the things I support than Candidate B, so I will vote for Candidate A.” “Party 1 prioritizes more issues that I support than Party B, so I will wear Party A’s colors.”
The problem with this method is tends to exclude parts of the Gospel and emphasize others. Catholics often times get frustrated with other Christians for cherry picking pieces of scripture, but we do no better when we follow this method.
Additionally, the A/B method creates an illusion that Catholics are divided. As conversations happen and we passionately argue for our preferred priorities we actually become divided. We stop speaking to one another and avoid certain parishes or liturgies.
When we are divided, it becomes increasingly difficult to evangelize. Who on earth would want to join a church whose members won’t even talk to each other?
So how do we get out of this mess? It requires a few steps.
Jesus prayed about this in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, “I pray … for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:20-21). We must imitate our Lord and begin to pray for one another and for ourselves. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and to work within us so that we can love our neighbors and pray for those who persecute us (cf. Matthew 5:43-48).
Secondly, it takes a mature approach to viewing our world and each other. Just like eating too much of one food group over others is unhealthy, it is also unhealthy to focus on one angle and avoid all others. We must have balance in what we consume.
And thirdly, it requires action upon our part. When we show up to the ballot box we must be prepared to make decisions that will help our country and each other. Be informed, be moved by the Holy Spirit, recognize that some issues are inherently more important than others.
So what does this person look like? He or she is a purple Catholic. Purple because this person is a knows he or she is a sinner and in need of God’s grace and because this person knows that permanently staying in a camp does no good for anyone. He or she isn’t red or blue, he or she is Catholic and that informs his or her mind first.
With this new project of mine I intend to help you and me complete that journey together. I pray that I may be successful of at least converting my heart and I will be blessed if it can help others become closer to the issues that matter to us and heals some of the divisions that plague us.
I hope you’ll join me in the project and spread the word if you think it is beneficial. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or email me.
St. Peter, Pray for us!