Political Responsibility Homilies

America's worldview was shaped by pastors. They preached sermons on very specific and practical aspects of life, including fires, earthquakes, and solar eclipses. "Occasional" sermons were sermons preached on significant occasions, and "Annual sermons" were preached each year at a given time. 

The largest collection of annual sermons were the "election sermons," which were preached every year for three centuries starting with the first in Virginia in 1634. Liberty Fund has published 2734 pages of this material in Political Sermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805 (and this is only material that does not already appear in other published works).

The war for Independence did not simply take place on battlefields. It was engaged in the pulpits, where the very heart and soul of the people were stirred with a commitment to defend that liberty which only God can give. Indeed, the same is true of America's efforts to rid herself of slavery and of segregation. And today, the same can be said of abortion -- and in that part of history, you are privileged to take your place. 

Talking points on Abortion

Talking points on Partial-birth Abortion

Talking points on Political Responsibility

Homily suggestions relative to the Sunday Readings

Read and Listen to samples

 Talking points on Abortion in general

Abortion is primarily a spiritual/moral issue rather than a political one. It violates justice, and therefore the command to love one another.

Alternatives to abortion are available nationwide, as is post-abortion healing and forgiveness.

The Church upholds human freedom, and also upholds the common-sense fact that when someone's choice destroys someone else's life, that's everybody's business, and is a choice that should not be allowed.

Christ is Life, and to stand with Him is to stand with Life, and against whatever destroys life. Nothing in our society destroys more life than abortion (4000 per day).

Talking points on Partial-Birth Abortion

The procedure called "partial-birth abortion" is performed in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, right up to full-term. It involves delivering most of the child, and then killing it by collapsing the skull.

Those who perform these procedures admit that at least 80% of them have nothing to do with the medical needs of the mother or the baby.

The Supreme Court has struck down a law which bans this procedure (Stenberg vs. Carhart, June 28, 2000). This contradicts the clear will of the American people, as evidenced by the fact that some 30 of the 50 state legislatures have banned it. So has the United States Congress, on three separate occasions. Polls likewise reveal a vast majority of the public wanting a ban on this procedure.

Banning partial-birth abortion is not the government making medical decisions; it is the government preventing the abuse of medicine.

Arguments in defense of partial-birth abortion can also apply to infanticide. In practice, the two evils are only inches apart from each other.

With the Court's action, the best legal recourse at this point against partial-birth abortion is the replacement of Supreme Court justices, which in effect means having people in the White House and the Senate who refuse to allow this kind of practice in America. This fact makes the upcoming elections more important than ever, since several Supreme Court justices will likely be replaced in the next few years.

Talking points on Political Responsibility

The bishops teach that participation in the political process is a virtue, and that every vote counts. Believers are not second-class citizens. Rather, they have every right to strive by legitimate means to shape public policy according to their moral convictions.

All legitimate authority comes from God and is responsible to God. Nations as well as individuals must follow his law.

Protecting human life is no more a sectarian creed than the Declaration of Independence is a sectarian document. Because all rights depend on life, the right to life is the most fundamental issue in any campaign.

Homily Starting points on Election themes for specific Sundays

Note: The pages below provide suggested ways in which the readings for specific Sunday liturgies can lead us into reflections upon our political responsibilities in the weeks immediately preceding the general elections.

Cycle B  (2006)

Cycle C  (2007)

Cycle A  (2008)