Dear Friends in Christ,

These past few weeks have been eventful for all of us. As we heard from the pulpit at Mass two weeks ago, Bishop Burbidge has called all of us to be aware of the upcoming election, and the dangerous ballot amendments that are being presented to Virginians. While it may appear strange to hear about politics within the Mass, it is important for us to make sure that what we experience in the life of the Church assists us to make proper decisions about our public lives.

First of all, the Catholic Church has always taught the necessity to engage in public life, especially in regards to protecting the dignity of human life and the sanctity of the Sacraments, especially marriage. When we look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we see that the Church assists in forming us to know the truth so that we can assist in promoting the Common Good of society. We read, "The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, 'when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.' In the moral order she bears a mission distinct from that of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign good, our ultimate end." (CCC #2420)

To this end of promoting the Common Good, we Catholics are obligated to make our voices heard when there are initiatives that seek to harm the dignity of human life or the moral law. As we are seeing in the ballot amendments for this coming November, the Commonwealth of Virginia is proposing to enshrine abortion into our State Constitution, and seeks to re-define marriage to include homosexual unions. As we have heard in recent weeks from Bishop Burbidge, these initiatives pose as a threat to the teachings of our Faith, and we should do everything we can to challenge these amendments.

In all of this, some of us may ask, "Isn't the Church supposed to avoid favoring one political party over another?" The answer is, "yes," the Church does not favor one political party over another, but these initiatives have nothing to do with political parties. By opposing Question 1&2 on the voting ballot, we are not favoring the donkey or the elephant, but we are favoring the Lamb, who calls us to protect the unborn and the sanctity of marriage.

Another way in which these amendments pose as a danger to us is the way in which they could cause us to fall into the sin of scandal. The Catechism teaches us, "Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged." (CCC #2287) Because these initiatives will cause many to think abortion and homosexual unions as morally acceptable, they pose a risk of causing many people to fall into grave sin. In this way, we are called to do everything we can to protect the consciences of all those who could be led astray into grave sin.

In conclusion, these ballot amendments pose a threat to what we believe as Catholics, and could affect the lives of thousands in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We are calling all to oppose these measures, which do not favor one political party over another, so that we can uphold the Common Good of those who live around us. I pray that all of us will take advantage of the resources from the catholicsvoteno.com website from the Diocese of Arlington.

May Christ’s peace be with you,

Father Briggs