A listener named Dan asks Father Dave for advice on current struggles in his spiritual life due to politics. Dan says, “I am at a point where my faith is barely hanging by a thread, because so many people I know support political policies that fly in the face of the teachings of Jesus and are based in hate and fear.”
He continues, “The politics that have gotten twisted up in our faith are driving me away. So my question is, how do I find a way to stand strong when it feels like I’m in the minority and feel resentment towards some of my fellow believers?”
Father Dave begins, “First of all, thank you for asking that and giving voice to this. I would guarantee you are not alone in feeling on either side of the issue. There’s definitely been more and more division even within our Church, particularly here in the United States, over the course of the last several years.”
“You say that the people are espousing things that fly in the face of the teachings of Jesus. I would have to just push back a little bit and say they seem to fly in the face of how you hear the teachings of Jesus,” he says. “Almost everybody thinks that what they’re voting for and the policies they support do, in fact, align with our faith. One of the things that’s challenging about a belief in God – because God is so broad and bigger than our minds or experiences – is that there are always going to be a lot of different [viewpoints] in any given religion.”
Father Dave notes the intense division during the Council of Nicaea, which dealt with the nuanced issues of Christ’s humanity and divinity. “2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the Council, when in the year 325, some believers were saying, ‘According to what I believe in the Bible and what the Church teaches, this is right,’ and others were saying pretty much the opposite,” he says. “We’ve always had [division]. I don’t say that to pat you on the head and say ‘don’t worry about it.’ It’s merely to give the context that this isn’t as new as it feels and seems.”
“Personally, that does give me some solace, confidence, and hope in the longevity of the Catholic Church and our faith,” Father Dave says. “We genuinely believe that the Holy Spirit is driving this bus, no matter how much we try to grab the wheel and throw it off the road.”
LISTEN: Fatherly Advice: Dealing With Political Division
Turning back to the modern world, Father Dave reflects on America’s two main political parties. “The honest truth is that the Gospel – the teachings of Jesus – do not fit neatly into one political category as we experience it today, or probably ever,” he says. “Without either you or me taking sides and saying, ‘These people are right, these people are wrong,’ let’s go to the basics of your question, which is, ‘there are people in my community that I disagree with.’ I think we need to start there and realize that it is fundamentally that basic.”
Father Dave reminds us that there is room for disagreement in the Church. “If you listen to many of the prayers of the Mass, we acknowledge that we are very disparate people,” he says. “We are a mixture of people; even if we’re in the same geographical area, even if everybody in the pews is of the same race. There’s still going to be such diversity of thought and different experiences of life.”
“The prayers of the Mass acknowledge that we’re different and divided, and yet we pray to become united,” Father Dave continues. “Somehow the unity comes not from us or our similar beliefs, but it comes truly from the Holy Spirit, working mysteriously through the celebration of the Mass and through our reception of the sacraments.”
