Angelus News | August 2-9, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 27

NEW WORLD
OF FAITH
BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Our commitments as Catholics
As Catholics, we are a people who
believe that every human life is born
from the will of a Creator who knows
us and loves us.
He creates each of us with a mortal
body and an immortal soul, as a male
or a female, and all of us are made in
God’s image, each with the dignity of
a child of God.
These basic beliefs about the sanctity
of life and the dignity of every person
should shape how we live and work,
how we treat other people, and how
we care for the world around us.
These beliefs should also shape our
commitments as citizens — what we
prioritize, the laws and policies we
support, and the kind of society we
seek to create.
Maintaining a true Catholic identity,
understanding ourselves to be
followers of Jesus Christ before we are
anything else, is always a challenge.
And it is getting harder in America
today.
Every aspect of our lives, it seems, is
becoming “politicized.”
We are living in a culture that is
confused and divided over basic issues
regarding what it means to be human
and what is the way that truly leads to
human happiness.
We see this in the many arguments
going on in our society today about
race and gender, abortion and euthanasia,
marriage and the family, the
environment and the economy.
As Catholics, we need to be deeply
engaged in these political and cultural
debates, because at the heart of these
questions is a conflict over the truth
about the human person that God
created and that Jesus Christ died to
redeem.
But we need to understand our commitments,
not in political terms, but
in terms of the Gospel and teachings
of the Church and the witness of the
saints.
Our mission as Catholics is to be
missionary disciples. This is the only
reason for our lives — to know and
love Jesus and to serve his plan for the
world’s salvation.
If we are going to be the people God
calls us to be, if we are going to restore
and renew the Church and rebuild
society, then we need a new dedication
to living our Catholic identity
and communicating that identity in
everything we do, from our schools
and religious education programs to
the way we live our faith in society.
In practical terms, that means
bringing our family and neighbors to
know the love of God, and it means
working for a society of love and compassion
that truly serves the human
person.
This is why we must be deeply concerned
by the federal government’s
return to executing criminals, which
was announced last week.
Every person is precious and sacred,
even those convicted of the most evil
and violent crimes. There are other
ways to punish criminals without taking
away their chance to change their
heart and be rehabilitated through the
mercy of God.
We also need to keep God’s love for
the human person at the center of our
perspective on the immigration issue.
Our political leaders — on both sides
— are still exploiting the sufferings of
immigrants and refugees for their own
political advantage. This has been going
on for years. It is cruel and wrong
and it should stop.
We are talking about human beings,
the image of God, our brothers and
sisters. Beyond law, beyond politics,
beyond their “status,” we have a duty
to open our hearts and attend to their
human needs. That must be the start
of any humane and reasonable solution
to these complicated issues.
We have that same duty of love
toward the child in the womb and
women facing crisis pregnancies.
Right now in California, there is
legislation, Senate Bill 24, that would
require all state colleges and universities
to offer students free access to the
“abortion pill.” But a compassionate
society should have more to offer
women in need than the ability to end
the life of their children before they
are born.
As Catholics, we need to oppose still
another attempt to expand abortion
for our young people. I urge you to
visit the California Catholic Conference
website to tell your legislators to
vote against SB 24. We should defeat
this bill and work to find new ways
to truly help pregnant women and
working mothers trying to continue
their education.
Pray for me this week, and I will be
praying for you.
And let us ask our Blessed Mother
Mary to help us to stay faithful to the
calling of Jesus Christ and his vision
of a society worthy of the human
person.
To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com.
August 2-9, 2019 • ANGELUS • 3