Election Day 2016

Today, voters will decide who will become the President of the United States for the next four years. They will elect national, state and local leaders and vote on many issues. This is our democracy at work. There are many people around the world who would give anything to live in a country where fair and free elections can be held. Let’s remember that.

Voting is both a privilege and a responsibility. I pray that everyone who reads this blog today has already voted or will vote today based on a well-informed conscience. We cannot be bystanders.

Social Media

Social media has been widely used by the campaigns and by supporters in this election cycle. The content has not always been pretty or respectful or even true. The amount of political, sometimes hateful content flooding many Facebook and Twitter feeds caused some people to stop reading their timelines for the duration of the campaigns.

As much as we may not have liked everything on social media in these last months, we now see even more clearly what a powerful communication tool it is.

For those of us who support the use of social media for sharing “Good News,” we need to stay with it and even increase our efforts. Many people are looking for the positive, for hope, healing, compassion and encouragement for good. Let’s offer it to them in the person of Jesus Christ, in the wisdom of the saints, in the joy of our communities, in our commitment to service for others, in our work for justice, in our humility and in our prayer.

Going Forward

What will happen on November 9? Tomorrow we must begin the healing, we must take whatever steps we can to help ourselves and others focus on the common good and be willing to work together to accomplish that. Healing is going to take time and it will be hard to focus on the needs of the whole country (especially the poor and vulnerable) when our preferred candidate or issues failed. But, the willingness of so many people to make that effort is what makes our country such a special place.

Let us Pray

God of mercy, protect our nation, guide our leaders and help us all to live in accord with your will.
Mary Immaculate, patroness of our country, pray for us.