As the Christmas season approaches, it’s time to start decorating the Christmas tree and prepare to “solve” all the world’s problems together with your loved ones.
Table politics seem inevitable during the holidays. Some members of your family are probably saying very different things than you about the state of the world. I bet you already know who they are too.
Given the tumultuous year we’ve all had, from student protests to the presidential election to wars raging beyond our borders, I think now, before the holidays, is a good time to reflect on our various commitments and about how our Catholic identity can help us discover how to effectively manage conflicting beliefs.
We have no shortage of obligations. Broadly speaking, we have responsibilities as Catholics, Americans, family members, and global citizens. Additionally, we have specific commitments such as our alma mater (Go Tigers!), our political party, or our favorite sports team. These groups help form our different identities. Some of these commitments fit together better than others. Your alma mater could also be your favorite sports team. On the other hand, your political loyalties could conflict with your family.
I think that the best combination of commitments is our identity as Catholics and as global citizens. These two callings go hand in hand.
In his encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis explains that being a Catholic is closely linked to global citizenship: “As part of the universe, brought into being by a Father, we are all bound by invisible bonds connected and together form a kind of universal family.”
Because we are created in the image and likeness of God, we have a common human dignity that transcends borders. The first line of the preamble to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights also recognizes “the inherent dignity and…equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.”
So, as Catholics AND as global citizens, we are called to love and respect everyone.
But how can I love everyone? How can I care about those struggling in the Middle East or Ukraine when I struggle to do the same for those around me? It’s easy to feel like our actions have no meaning on such a large scale. I believe that our Catholic identity can help us solve this problem.
As Catholics, we have an obligation to improve the common good. Although it affects everyone, the common good can be improved through actions large and small. Practicing good global citizenship can also start on a small scale through simple engagement. This brings me back to the dinner table.
Although it’s frustrating that someone you love doesn’t share all of your values, you still have a familial bond with them. That’s a blessing, not a curse. Family is one of our most intimate commitments. It allows us to navigate human differences with built-in guardrails of love.
Not everyone has the same vision of how to improve the common good. It is our job as Catholics, as the USCCB says, to engage in “reasonable, compassionate, and loving dialogue” to understand one another.
By leveraging our shared commitment to Catholicism, our families, and the world, we can begin to close the gaps between our differences and work toward ever-greater improvement in the common good.
So don’t be afraid to practice good global citizenship when a hot-button secular topic comes up over Christmas ham.
Gabe Biagi is a 2021 graduate of St. Xavier High School, a graduate of Boston College, and pastor of Epiphany Church.
