We Must Be Who We Claim to Be

From an interview with Archbishop Chaput on religious liberty in America and his new e-book on the same:

LOPEZ: Does the Church have moral authority in the public square? Should Catholics even have a public voice given the clergy’s abuse scandals?

CHAPUT: We don’t have a choice. We need to witness because Jesus Christ commands us to witness. His moral authority is unimpaired. The evil actions of some priests do not license the rest of us to be silent.

I found this especially helpful to those of us who spend a lot of time on politics — or any kind or work that can take our focus off God:

LOPEZ: How can Catholics prudently engage in politics without becoming inordinately wedded to a political party? Should that be a concern?

CHAPUT: It certainly should be a concern, and the cure for political addiction is keeping an eye on our mortality. Life is short. We’ll be forgotten by everyone but God. Our home is heaven, and the politics of this world won’t matter there. Charity, justice, courage, mercy — these are the virtues, or their absence, that will shape our eternity. These are the things that really matter. So to the degree we remember where we’re finally headed, we remain sane.

Whatever we do, we must do it always in Christ.

The whole interview with Archbishop Chaput is here.