A Catholic Candidate: Now As Before

The following is an excerpt from Ann Casey’s book,  America’s Courage of Faith.

25 June 1928

Dear Gaston,

Fellow priest and brother, politics, politics and the credit money grabbers are festering in our souls with the wounds man has sliced and left neglected. This jubilance of tomorrow showing up is met with the moment of only now, not giving the tinker’s dam of work to see it through.

A Catholic Candidate

The mess of presidential candidates has affected Warrenton in a rally of a battle cry, to stay with the Democratic Party, but with an odd twist to their loyalty – our bid of Mr. Smith, who is Catholic, is creating a hue and cry, not from the Southern Democrats as one could with probability be expected, but the accusations are coming from the Republican denizens, their claim of Rome dictating the vote is roaring its deformed tongue once again. I am enclosing the recent articles, including my own, not out of boast, but my response and most Catholics precipitated my answer.

It is our ancient history who maintains our balance between our human condition and the requirement of God’s for our conduct. In the tipping scales, weighing its weight, as they teeter to one side and then the other, is for our trust in the plan He has for us and our labor of work demanded is for our brief span on earth. Your belief in Me, is the sweating of man’s mandated toils in labor degraded by him, is of no consequence to Me, if done with a grudging heart and for the end of the week pay, yet, if done willingly and without concern of man’s measurements of payment and the letting go of his restrictions with the joyful heart – there is my plan for the paradox of you as my children and my gift of free will. Many are the paths, full of the pitfalls for the easy choosing of giving in, yet in that, the choice is yours. I will not give up on you unless you chose to clamber down to the pit, the one where you surrender to as a brother. Entwined in our convoluted yearning to stand upright and carrying the cross, where we attempt with pride to prove to our muscle strength and are able to carry it without falling on our face with the burdens of the world’s iniquities, is our second cross. More often, though we dump the whole lot at the bottom of the hill and as Pilate, wash and dust off our hands of the responsibility for the mess of cruel judgments. We made them into a law unto ourselves and forsook all others. The razor’s edge brother, unknowing in our choice, whether we shall be cut to ribbons or walk just above, trusting God’s hand completely for either walk about on man’s path, or tumbling ass over end to God’s.
The inverted crux of living, either way, we possess the innate capacity of appearing foolish, either from innocent belief or by our transgressions, baring our soul first to God and even then, the limited defense, is unavailable. So, finally, at the last I am returning, in sorts, to the beginning topic of this rambling epistle – the validity of religious conviction in the political arena, we believe, as our founders did, the invocation to God was essential for the success of our endeavor, yet when we put faith in leaders who invoke the Catholic Doctrine, it is sneered upon and only applauded when the candidate who wins is our own. And if and when they prove themselves, only men, well then, they and we are crucified by the moral and religious principles of which they boasted of and lied only wanting their election into public office.

Morality is to be the basis of all decisions, as we hold public office higher by their choice of service in governing the public body, we too are held by the same standards, yet we demand separate exclusions of our own agendas. Fickle we are for all that, but the sense of the whole to live judiciously among ourselves has worked here to a greater accomplishment than the majority of other nations not as young in their age. Smith is celebrated here, not for his being Catholic, but more by being the democratic candidate – the issue is the calling his religion as the greater influence and force than his political standing – similar to asking the questions on how your decisions are affected by your being a Jew or a Protestant. Silly, calling into question a man’s viability for office on one aspect of his life, though and yet for a Catholic, it is our whole essence. Our lives are conducted by and from our parish under the absolute infallibility of our Holy Father, Christ’s successor from Saint Peter. The vilification of Catholics, though not as blatant as in centuries past, is still quite alive in the subtler forms, no more so evident than on the recent political stage.

Who knows brother; we just may see a Catholic and Irish to boot the old stodgers in office, but not in our lifetime brother. Perhaps the next generations will realize their idiocy of prior prejudices’ requirements and its evil restrictions.

Our parish herself, she is indignant over the accusations, yet Lizzie, as she insists I call her, keeps her steady calm, intoning, ‘all has happened before Father, and shall happen again’. Our job is to pray for our wayward souls and resist giving reason to their hate, besides,’ she said with that humor of hers, ‘offering the other cheek, gives their in flaming fury pause in its confusion.’

She brings all my ramblings about into the comprehensive with the sense her years have given her. Both Lizzie and William keep close to home these past few months, yet without fail attend Sunday Mass. During the week, I bring the Mass to them and afterward over late breakfast, the three of us delve into all the conversational topics we can find in the enjoyment of each other’s company.

Take care brother; we are all looking forward to your visit of next month.

Grace and Peace,
Winston