Presumption is a terrible thing. Many of us assume the worst in all situations. Many of us go into a situation assuming that everyone is against us, that the battle is lost and that the apocalypse is nigh. Such, perhaps, is the case that some are feeling concerning the forthcoming inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America.
Many presume the worst, that the next four years of life under a Trump administration will be difficult. Many in our country, our city, our Church, are not even giving the president-elect a chance before we assume the disaster that is going to happen.
What can we as good Catholics do under this forthcoming Trump administration? First, we can pray, following the edicts of St. Peter from his first epistle:
“Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.”
Far from a king, in our nation, the president is an elected official. Yet we owe it to our nation to pray for the elected president and for our nation. We pray for an increase in the natural virtues for Mr. Trump: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. We also pray for an increase in the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity for our president.
We pray for our nation that we will come together to strive for all values that make America who she is, most especially for a greater respect for all peoples, regardless of race, creed or color. We pray especially for the dignity and rights of all people, immigrant and perhaps most poignantly, for the most defenseless, the unborn. We pray for a greater understanding of what religious freedom means and the role that the government does, can and should play in our lives.
We should not presume evil on the part of anyone. We should be people of the Kingdom of God, which, as St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans is not a matter of eating or drinking, the things of this world, but a matter of peace, justice, and joy, the things of the world to come, the things that only Christ Jesus our Lord truly embodies in his very Person.
So even if we are shocked, dismayed, and still angered by this election, let us as Catholic people come together to pray for our nation, that we will always be people of integrity, people of peace, justice, and joy, and pray for our newly elected President for an increase in virtue, both natural and supernatural, so that we as a nation, and as part of a world community may be agents of peace and prosperity for all people, especially the poor, the immigrant, the unborn, and the most helpless in society.