‘Waiting is never easy’ – a post US-election reflection

By Bishop John Stowe OFM Conv, 7 December 2020
Image: Phillip Goldsberry/Unsplash.

 

As millions of Americans headed to the polls and the ballots began to be counted, Bishop John Stowe OFM Conv, Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA, wrote a reflection about how “waiting is never easy.”

Bishop Stowe is a Conventual Franciscan Friar and has served as the bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, since May 2015. Currently, for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he serves on the committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the bishops’ anti-poverty initiative. He has a history of working on social justice and peace concerns including as a Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) local leader in California.

Pax Christi USA, a branch of Pax Christi International, describes themselves as “Grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, PCUSA is a membership organisation that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism. As PCUSA, a section of Pax Christi International, we are a Catholic peace and justice movement that seeks to model the Peace of Christ in our witness to the mandate of the nonviolence of the Cross.”

Writing in November, Bishop Stow said, “At the end of this month, we enter into our annual liturgical waiting as the world around us rushes to celebrate the commerce of Christmas. When we wait in Advent, we are told it is not merely a passive waiting — we are to wait and watch and discover the signs of the Messiah’s nearness even as we wait. I hope we can transfer that lesson to our present political circumstances.

“We pray for a just and peaceful conclusion to these elections and for all who will be affected by the outcome. We study the story of our democracy, the teachings of our faith, and how they work together to promote the dignity of the human person and progress for the common good. And we will work to make that vision become real, and to be instruments of healing for all who have been excluded and do not have the luxury of waiting.”

To read Bishop Stowe’s full reflection, click here.

With thanks to Pax Christi USA, where this article originally appeared.

 

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