Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy's recent sermon at the opening Mass for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities meeting illustrates the ecclesial, and eucharistic, understanding of Christian morality. He contrasted the "order of nature" with the "order of grace." I thought he was a bit hard on the order of nature. But his call to place the order of grace at the heart of Catholic education is spot on, as is his assertion that the Beatitudes are the content of that order. McElroy's sermons always have one foot in this world and one in the heavenly banquet of which the Mass is a foretaste and a promise.
Not all Christians possess this ecclesial understanding that shapes Catholicism. In 1980, the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority was in full swing. The fundamentalist Baptist minister was trekking across the country urging fundamentalist Christians to register to vote and to back candidates who supported traditional values, most especially in favor of pro-life candidates.
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