(LifeSiteNews) — Although Matt Walsh did not appear in person at last week’s Catholics for Catholics gala in Washington, D.C., his remarks captured the essence of what the gathering represents.
In an age when too many Catholics compromise with the modern world and cut corners for political victories, Walsh lays out a solidly orthodox roadmap for followers of Jesus Christ to follow as they seek to influence the culture around them.
Walsh began his remarks where every faithful Catholic father must begin: with the eternal destiny of his children. “My politics,” he stated, “are simply this: I want my children to go to heaven.”
We’re grateful to @MattWalshBlog for his message of support on the importance of protecting our children and families through faith and truth.
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That single sentence encapsulates the entirety of the past 2,000 years of Church teaching. How so, you might wonder? Well, in brief, those who have authority over others have been given that role by God. Whether it be popes and priests, kings and presidents, or mothers and fathers, those who occupy these positions of power over others must have as their goal their spiritual well-being, either indirectly or directly.
Walsh is essentially reminding his viewers that the primary vocation of Catholics in this life is not political victories but the salvation of souls. At the same time, in order to allow more souls to more easily be saved, foreign policy as well as political battles over cultural issues must be engaged with so the next generation can have more opportunities to live a life free from occasions of sin and filled with prayer and sanctity.
Walsh grounds his politics in the definition of love given by St. Thomas Aquinas: “to love is to will the good of the other.” Walsh notes that he does this by loving his wife and his six children. He explains that it is his duty to make choices that help them get to heaven.
“I think that we as Catholics and conservative should think and speak more in these terms, and organize our politics around it,” Walsh argues. “Our culture is full of threats to our kids, threats to their bodies, minds, and souls. Abortion, pornography, divorce, the LGBT agenda, the mass legalization, a normalization of drugs… these are the things we’re fighting against. This is where our focus should be.”
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Again, Walsh grounds his outlook not in a narrow libertarian worldview that ultimately ignores the good of the other. Nor does he overreach by promoting a politics that seeks to dominate the civil sphere, as socialists and Marxists do. He grounds his outlook in what he calls a “properly ordered” society that views persons as children of God and whose eternal destiny is to be with Him in paradise. This sort of politics is what other conservatives should adopt.
