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you . . . For the measure you give will be the measure you get

back” (Lk 6:36-38). What these passages make clear is the

absolute priority of “going forth from ourselves toward our

brothers and sisters” as one of the two great commandments

which ground every moral norm and as the clearest sign for

discerning spiritual growth in response to God’s completely

free gift. (no. 179)

Love compels us “to ‘go into all the world and proclaim the good news to

the whole creation’ (Mk 16:15)” (

Evangelii Gaudium

, no. 181). “Here,” Pope

Francis continues, “‘the creation’ refers to every aspect of human life; con-

sequently, ‘the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a

universal destination. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of

existence, all individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Noth-

ing human can be alien to it’” (

Evangelii Gaudium

, no. 181). This “mandate”

includes our engagement in political life.

2. The political realities of our nation present us with opportunities and

challenges. We are a nation founded on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap-

piness,” but the right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn

children, the terminally ill, and the elderly, the most vulnerable members

of the American family. We are called to be peacemakers in a nation at war.

We are a country pledged to pursue “liberty and justice for all,” but we are

too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We

are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new

immigrants in our midst. We are a society built on the strength of our families,

called to defend marriage and offer moral and economic supports for family

life. We are a powerful nation in a violent world, confronting terror and trying

to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent society

where too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities of

life. We are part of a global community charged with being good stewards of

the earth’s environment, what Pope Francis calls “our common home,” which

is being threatened. These challenges are at the heart of public life and at the

center of the pursuit of the common good.

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They are intertwined and insepa-

rable. As Pope Francis has insisted, “We are faced . . . with one complex crisis

which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an

integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded,

and at the same time protecting nature” (

Laudato Si’

, no. 139).

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