As anyone who follows current events knows, the city of Minneapolis has been at the center of conflict between the federal government and local officials over the enforcement of federal immigration laws. In the past few weeks, two protesters have been shot and killed by federal law enforcement officers, incidents which have brought tensions there to a boiling point. The conflict is inflamed by the way people interpret videos of the incidents, their conclusions often matching their partisan sympathies. It’s a very troubling situation.
Fr. Paul Hedman, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, gave a homily last weekend in which he addressed what he believes lies at the very heart of the trouble. He began by citing St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:10-13,17) in which St. Paul addresses the deep divisions that existed among the members of the Church in Corinth in the first century. Fr. Hedman begins his homily, reading the following lines from St. Paul: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you…. Each of you is saying, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to [Peter].’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?” Fr. Hedman then asks the congregation: “What is this, in our modern day? Do you belong to the Republicans? Do you belong to the [Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]? Do you belong to Vox or Alpha News? Do you belong to CNN or MSNBC? Do you belong to Walz? Was Trump crucified for you?” He continues: “Our country has failed because we have centered ourselves on political figures and movements rather than on Jesus Christ. No problem of this world will be solved without a foundation of a profound friendship with Jesus Christ, the prophetic teaching of Him crucified for the forgiveness of sins, and above all, seeking Him first, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We do not worship the donkey. We do not worship the elephant. We worship the Lamb.”
It’s an important message, and a corrective to how we are tempted to view the world in our day, when politics has been elevated to a totalizing worldview. While politics is important and necessary, when it is totalized it takes on the quality of religion. But it’s a false religion that distorts the way we see things. It reduces our neighbor to either an ally or an enemy based on party affiliation or news outlet preference, rather than a fellow creature made in the image of God, a fellow sinner in need of God’s mercy. As adherents to political religion, we easily end up justifying dishonesty, abuses of power, and gravely evil actions committed by allies, even as we condemn our enemies for acting similarly. All of us are vulnerable to this, especially as the social influence of institutional religion declines. Right now, the people of Minneapolis and all those affected by recent events need prayers, as does our nation. There will always be political disagreements among members of a society, including very serious ones in which the stakes are very high. In such circumstances Catholics must remember who we are and to Whom we ultimately belong, and beg for the grace, the conversion of heart and mind, to be able to conduct ourselves accordingly.
posted 1/31/26
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 