First of all I need to begin tonight with an announcement in case some of you did not hear it. There was a financial crisis in the United States this past week. Maybe some of you found out there was a false division being created between Wall Street and Main Street. Because lots of people in this parish lost money during last week myself included. My retirement isn't what it was.

The bill that was finally passed in Congress was a compromise. No one thought it was perfect. But it was important enough to stop the financial deterioration of the country because stocks were declining, unemployment was up. Some of them who voted for the bill had to hold their nose but they voted for it.

I was very pleased earlier a week ago that the US Bishops did not speak out about the issue as such. They did not say do or don't support any specific legislation. But the US Bishops did name three moral principles... principles that should be included in the legislation.

When I was a young man in St. Catherine's grade school a couple of days ago... I was taught that most legislation is the result of compromise. It's the way people got things done.

We have gathered again on this first Sunday in October. It is, in all Catholic churches in the United States Respect Life Sunday. On this day we pause and reconsider and we pray about the reality of what we refer to as the Consistent Ethic of Life. Very simply it says that all human life from conception to natural death is a reflection of the Divine Life of God and therefore is to be respected as such.

There are many religions that believe in certain aspects of life but the Catholic Church is the only church that teaches that ALL life is worthy of dignity. And I mean it is a wonderful idea. But talking the talk and walking the walk are two different things, because that makes us view society differently from everyone else.

Some years ago Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical called "The Gospel of Life". He referred to how incredibly complex the issues of life are today. In many cases we do not even know what the moral questions are... much less what the answers are. In many cases the moral dictums are overlaid with real-life circumstances that make it very emotional for some of us and very difficult at times.

Today we pause and we pray and we celebrate about who we are. But it is the year 2008... and we are one month away from what many people say will be the most important election in the lifetime of many.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, who is the chairman of the US Bishops Committee on Pro-life Activities has outlined the primary issues of today's celebration:
1. The care of persons with disabilities and those nearing the end of life.
2. Embryonic stem cell research and the ethical concerns that all of that raises.
3. The abortion and euthanasia issues.

John Paul II and Benedict XVI have both called the war in Iraq an unjust war. They have both spoken out against torture and ignoring the poor. John Paul II in his Gospel of Life says that capital punishment is not morally acceptable under any circumstance in today's society. Yet over 50% of all American Catholics support it.

The care of the poor and the vulnerable is a major issue says the US Bishops and yet the social safety net is not there for many people. While the US Bishops have spoken clearly and the bishops of the state of Indiana have spoken on the issue of immigration, most people are not even interested in what they have said.

Some people would have us believe that the list of what the church calls "intrinsically evil acts" begins and ends with abortion. In fact there are many intrinsically evil acts, and a committed Catholic must consider all of them before deciding how to vote.

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who is now Pope Benedict XVI was head of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was answering some American bishops question about politicians and communion. He answered the question - thinking his remarks would be seen only by bishops - but it was leaked to the press. It is now considered a major mark in this issue.

First, he said, a Catholic who deliberately voted for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's pro-abortion or pro-euthanasia stand would be guilty of "formal cooperation in evil" and should exclude himself or herself from receiving Communion.

Second, when a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered "remote material cooperation," which is "permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons."

In plain English what that means is: If you do not agree with a candidate's pro abortion stance - but do agree on other issues then you may vote for them.

The US Bishops wrote a document called "Forming a Conscience for Faithful Citizenship". In that document the bishops of the United States said that Catholics need to act in support of these principles and policies in public life. It is the particular vocation of the laity to transform the world. We have to encourage this vocation and do more to bring all believers to this mission. As bishops, we do not endorse or oppose candidates. Rather, we seek to form the consciences of our people so that they can examine the positions of candidates and make choices based on Catholic moral and social teaching.

The bishops have urged a different kind of political engagement, one that is shaped by the moral convictions of well informed consciences.

It is true that some bishops have been making statements recently. Some of them have stepped over the mark of just forming conscience. Perhaps you're not aware that the bishops are human too and they did not get to be a bishop without some political savvy.

Some of you may not believe this but over the years some people have said that even though I do try to keep politics out of my homilies they can tell which way I lean.

People have an incredible way of using documents including the Bishop's document Faithful Citizenship. We all are accustomed to having newscasts use sound bites and how people stake out certain political positions and then use newscasts to prove them. People have been doing that for years from Scripture. You can prove anything you want from Scripture. All you have to do is take a snippet here and a snippet here.

And there are people this year who are misusing church documents including the document Faithful Citizenship by taking snippets out of context and posting them online.

We do have to make choices. That is the basic message of today's Scripture. In both the Gospel and Isaiah people had to make choices about the vineyards. Isaiah said the same thing when he said people make choices and some may or may not wish to choose life. You and I are challenged in these days to first be informed and to second make choices

We have heard this beautiful hymn many times before of Paul. In his letter to the Philippians today Paul gives us good counsel on how to promote the Gospel of life. Paul advises that "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

To do nothing is not an option.