Love of money, power:
Can lead to heavy pains

		Notes from the  Vicar General  Msgr. Paul J. Swain

St. Paul instructed Timothy that "the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with heavy pains" (1Tim 6:10).

Money itself is neutral; how we seek it and what we do with it can lead to good things or heavy pains. This is true of position and power, authority and status. It is what we seek and how we use what we have received, in the business world, in government, in the institutional church, and in the home, that reveal how faithful we are. Money and power have over the centuries lead to much good, and to great pains.

Our Christian values should guide whatever we do. What we pray on Sunday should influence what we do on Monday, in the workplace, any place, including the public square.

This is campaign time when we get barraged with ads and accusations, often simplistic and negative. It is easy to tune it all out. However, we are called to be good citizens, recognizing that those elected represent us and affect lives.

No God in money or power

The church does not endorse political candidates. Each person must in good conscience determine for him or herself for whom they should vote. The church does have the responsibility to help inform that conscience. We are called as Catholics to take seriously what the church teaches and why.

Core to church teaching is that government, our political process, cannot succeed without a morally good society. A morally good society cannot survive unless sound moral values are lived out. Government run and decisions made on the lowest common denominator, or what is easiest to get approved, or what is personally advantageous to those with power, will ultimately deteriorate into anything goes. Then the common good is sacrificed, and any person or principle is expendable for the political cause.

It is with great sadness that we learned of the allegations of extortion and misconduct in public office by some state legislative leaders. The love of money and the love of power are seductive, which lead to great pains. Knowing some of the legislators personally, they entered public life with a true desire to serve the public good. If the allegations are true, somewhere along the way they lost their moral compass.

It is also clear that some stood by, aware of transgressions, and watched as lives became tainted and the people's business sullied. It should not be, it need not be.

Only the God who gifted us with life

What we pray on Sunday should guide what we do every day. We do not seek to impose our beliefs on others. But neither should we shrink from assuring that Christian values are part of the dialogue and guideposts of accountability of persons and institutions. It is not always easy or well received. Sometimes it takes courage; sometimes it takes sacrifice.

Our faith teaches us that there is no God in political power, no God in money. There is only the one God who gifted us with life, who died on the cross for our salvation, who promises eternal life for those who remain faithful. We pray this on Sunday. May we live it on Monday, and vote it on Election Day.

Cemetery Sunday:
Reminds us of our relationship with the dead

	Guest  commentary  John J. O'Brien

Editor's note: Following a tradition begun in 1978, President John J. O'Brien, CCCE, of the National Catholic Cemetery Conference, issued the following statement on the significance of Catholic Cemetery Sunday, to be observed Nov. 3. This is a day when people are encouraged to visit the sacred grounds of Catholic cemeteries throughout the United States and Canada.

It's a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead (2 Mach. 12:46). This simple scriptural quote underscores the relationship of the community of the living with the community of the dead, or more properly, the Communion of Saints.

To pray for someone, asking Christ's healing presence and peace, recalls the human nature of our relationships, and our feelings of grief and sorrow and loss when these relationships are broken, albeit temporarily, through death.

Yet in a wider context, we recognize that another relationship exists that is no less real and present. It is that intimate yet supernatural relationship that exists between God and his people, his church.

Visit to cemetery

Just as we mark the special days of our human relationships, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, dates of death, Cemetery Sunday is also a special day. It is an occasion to once again recognize our Christian hope and belief that "life is changed, not ended."

In making a trip to the cemetery, we acknowledge our closeness to those who have died. We can be comforted in knowing that our prayers for the dead bring their souls and ours closer to God.

Beliefs, traditions

In an increasingly secular world that seems to have little time for belief and tradition, it is important not only to retain those practices that connect us to faith, but also to sustain them, breathing life into them.

In the words of Bishop Anthony F. Tonnos, D.D., Bishop of Hamilton, spoken to the members of the National Catholic Cemetery Conference, "The living Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit brought into union with God and into union with a community of Catholic believers through the grace of the sacrament of baptism . . . It is because of these beliefs that we bury the dead, surrounded by liturgy, prayer, dignity, and respect."

Tangible reminder

We recognize our own mortality, and, at a time and place known only to God, we hope to be carried reverently to our place of rest, and to have those left behind pray for our souls, and for the resurrection to new life on the last day.

Cemetery Sunday is that very tangible reminder of those who have gone before us in faith, in order that we may follow them in faith. Let us not disappoint them.

John J. O'Brien is managing director of Catholic Cemeteries for the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.