It is providential that we celebrate the Feast of the Lateran Basilica following Election Day this year. Today Catholics look to this Cathedral in Rome, "the Head and Mother of all Churches in the city and the world," which has serenely presided over a worldwide communion since 324 AD. Political leaders come and go, but the Church remains. Constantine's second wife Fausta gave the Lateran family's land to the Church, on which her husband built a great basilica to Christ the Savior. The doors of this church were taken from the old Roman Senate building a mile away. These doors remind all who pass through them that, at their best, Church and State work together in mutual respect for a peaceful social order.
The mainstream media had been assuring us of a Clinton victory, while it seemed to me that Trump himself was doing everything he could to prevent his own election. The many texts and emails I've already received this morning manifest our national turmoil. Some express gleeful relief and some frightened distress, but I hope calmer heads will prevail now that we have made a decision.
To maintain our peace in the midst of tumultuous politics it is good to remember two things:
First, America is still governed by "checks and balances," which prevent any one man from exercising undue power. Donald Trump will be our president, but, if we keep our heads, he will not be our dictator. America does not elect dictators but presidents, who must answer to the Congress and the Judiciary, as well as to the electorate. No president will assume dictatorial powers unless we let him, and we certainly have the means to maintain checks and balances.
Second, and more to the point, the man who exercises essential authority over America lives not in the White House but in St. John Lateran Basilica. He also lives in your own little parish churches, and nothing happens in America without his permission. In our national convulsions over this election, have we forgotten that God is God? "All things work for the good for those who love God," Paul writes. After every government has failed us, Jesus will still be our Lord and Savior. I assumed I would be writing these words after a third Clinton presidency was announced this morning, but it turns out to be Trump. In the long run, it doesn't much matter who wins the presidency, because God always wins. He is our victor today, infinitely more than any politician, and we would be well-advised not to forget it.
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
The mainstream media had been assuring us of a Clinton victory, while it seemed to me that Trump himself was doing everything he could to prevent his own election. The many texts and emails I've already received this morning manifest our national turmoil. Some express gleeful relief and some frightened distress, but I hope calmer heads will prevail now that we have made a decision.
To maintain our peace in the midst of tumultuous politics it is good to remember two things:
First, America is still governed by "checks and balances," which prevent any one man from exercising undue power. Donald Trump will be our president, but, if we keep our heads, he will not be our dictator. America does not elect dictators but presidents, who must answer to the Congress and the Judiciary, as well as to the electorate. No president will assume dictatorial powers unless we let him, and we certainly have the means to maintain checks and balances.
Second, and more to the point, the man who exercises essential authority over America lives not in the White House but in St. John Lateran Basilica. He also lives in your own little parish churches, and nothing happens in America without his permission. In our national convulsions over this election, have we forgotten that God is God? "All things work for the good for those who love God," Paul writes. After every government has failed us, Jesus will still be our Lord and Savior. I assumed I would be writing these words after a third Clinton presidency was announced this morning, but it turns out to be Trump. In the long run, it doesn't much matter who wins the presidency, because God always wins. He is our victor today, infinitely more than any politician, and we would be well-advised not to forget it.
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
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