I voted today. Standing in the long line snaking all the way around the Franklin County, Ohio Board of Elections felt like being inside some strange but essential internal organ of our democracy. As I walked lazily through the line’s many twists and turns for nearly an hour, masked and six feet from the next voter, I reminded myself that standing in this line to cast my ballot is likely the most important act of my secular life in a democracy.
But voting is also a fundamentally Catholic and even liturgical thing to do.
Continue reading “Voting and the Liturgy”
A family member called the other night, shaken by a recent exchange with a stranger in an airport. This relative was raised Catholic, loves his Catholicism, but chooses to attend a Presbyterian church out of love for his wife and respect for her religious traditions. When he mentioned that he was returning home for his daughter’s confirmation to the airport stranger, the stranger asked with interest if he was Catholic. “Actually,” my relative replied, “we go to a Presbyterian church.” The stranger scoffed. “Oh, I get it,” he said, “you go to fake church.” He went on to belittle my relative’s choice to worship with his wife and daughters and to openly deride and insult their Presbyterian tradition.
I’ve been a blur of preparations this week for the city of Roanoke, VA’s