My friends, if we have been “tuned in” this past week simply to the many astounding messages coming out of the gathering in Chicago, where people from both political parties joined to uplift two people asking for the opportunity to lead our country going forward, I submit that serious “hearers” of these messages, could hardly have walked away, unimpressed.

   As your pastor, I have in my years of ministry, always strived to uplift actions and ideas of individuals, steering clear of how to vote, other than as Jesus taught, “checking the fruits.”   But let’s leave this for now, and look to what our brother Jesus, and the other prophets, Joshua and Paul have to say about how our God intends for each of us to live. 

   Joshua, in the 1^st reading, begins with making clear that our God, “has, and always will journey with us.”  Psalm 34, as we have sung and prayed let’s us know that our God hears the “cry of the poor.”  This reminds me of a woman I meet with bi-weekly, outside of the parish, in an assisted-living center who asked me this past week if our “suffering in life earns us heaven?” I answered her by uplifting the God I believe in, who, rather than punishing us, “walks with us” in our lives, and wants only good, not bad for us.  She thought this was a better way to look at it.

   Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians tells us of our brother Jesus, who we believe in our faith, became the Christ, but who first, joined us in history in our human state, to basically show us “the way,” which in the broadest and best sense, was, and is, all about love—asking us in the day-to-day, to “be our best,” for ourselves and for others. 

   We find Jesus, likewise addressing “hard” sayings, calling his followers, then and now, to see beyond the surface, “feel-good” ideas to a deeper level of understanding that makes everyone “welcome” in our world, each with a significant piece to contribute, and in our present times, especially, where so much division seems rampant, a way forward.

   With that much of Scriptural backdrop, and grounding, I would like to take us back to random ideas that I heard, and witnessed this past week at the Democratic Convention, not with a political, head focus, but more so, “a heart focus,” which, in my read of Scripture was always the focus that Jesus asked us to use first in our earthly life and dealings with others.   

   So, with no hierarchy of concern, for which idea is most important, I share in a random fashion, the following.  And before I do that, I would say that several of the speakers, from both major political parties encouraged that this election, more than any other is not, and should not be about “party” affiliation, but about “country” and what we should “stand for” in this country.  It is primarily then, for this reason, that, as your pastor, I feel justified in commenting and uplifting the following thoughts and ideas, which are in tune with our Scriptural readings today:

• “Hope” that we as a country could strive toward becoming more and more united, more kind, more understanding of others’ choices, even if those choices aren’t our own, more accepting of differing ideas and better listeners of other’s stories, from which their decisions often flow, and more respectful of what others walk with. 
• The thought that “we are all more alike than we are different,” expressing the belief that we all want the same basic things in life for ourselves and our families, and that we, as citizens of our great country, have the responsibility to see to it that no one is left behind.  Psalm 34 today underscores this idea—“Our God hears the cry of the poor,” which then is uplifted in the coming of our brother, Jesus, to remind us, who so easily forget, that if we are going to say that we follow him, “the fruits must be present in our lives!” 
• Our country’s confusion over the 2^nd amendment to our Constitution, stimulated by the false ideas of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and many others, that this amendment guarantees our citizens access to dangerous and lethal weapons, which stand in stark contrast to the safety of innocent victims of mass murders in our country, was called the lie that it is this past week.  And, as has been said, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” viewers this past week, heard and saw the emotional stories of these “innocent ones” whose lives were taken because, as a good friend once said, we don’t as a country have the “intestinal fortitude” to put into place, rules and safeguards to keep the most vulnerable among us safe.  One of the commentators made mention of the fact that “as hard as it is to hear these stories, we need to hear them again and again, until we really hear them,” and do what is needed so as to make these kinds of situations, less and less, going forward. 
• There were stories of women who have suffered needlessly from those in our country, in Church and State, who have very narrow views of what constitutes “life,” raising the life of the unborn over and above the lives of the women who were carrying these “would-be” lives, denying them access to care for their own bodies, thus threatening the lives of the would-be moms, a decision that the government and the hierarchical Church have no right to make.  Needless to say, but important to realize, is that this life issue is not, “ black and white,” the same in every case, but shows itself in many-layered gray tones.  “Respect for others” and their own unique stories was uplifted, asking our country to trust individuals and their doctors to make the best decisions for them.
• Throughout this past week, many, many hard, and thus not easy to solve ideas were uplifted; peace in our world, wars that need to cease, and more, were addressed—many of which brought me to tears at times, realizing how we, as a nation of immigrants have fallen short of being what our brother Jesus and the leaders of other major faith groups have asked of their people. 

   So, my friends, hopefully I have not been “political” in these comments, as it was not my intention to do so, but to simply raise up ideas that give hope—ask for kindness and mercy, a sense of treating others as we would want to be treated, understanding that this is what our humanity calls us to—at its very best.  I did not do this after the Republican Convention as I did not see “the fruits.”

   And finally, I think many in our country this past week were buoyed up, acquiring a new sense of hope that we can, we should, and we must “turn a page,” walking forward, not backward, expanding our hearts and minds, and for us, “practicing” Catholic Christians, including all, as our brother Jesus, did!  Amen? Amen!