The America We Knew is Gone

Hello, people of goodwill:::

The America we knew is gone. Do not think, "This is America and *that* cannot happen here," whatever *that* is --- mass deportations, the army being unleashed on US citizens, tens of thousands of civil servants being replaced with MAGA loyalists, public radio being used to pipe in "Christian" programming (all things outlined in Project 2025). Let go of the notion that these things cannot happen here. It can happen, it is happening, it has been happening. Remember the Indian Removal Act, the Jim Crow South, Japanese internment camps. The decision made in this election is catastrophic. Fascism in the US will now be greatly accelerated.

Here are some pastoral suggestions for these early days. Take what is helpful, leave what is not. You are the best judge of how God is inviting you to respond to what is unfolding. 

• If you do not have a faith community, get one (ideally one that meets in person). If you can't find a Catholic Church that you can support, find another denomination. If you cannot find a Church in another denomination, create your own gathering by inviting people you know to prayer. Get connected to a spiritual community and be faithful and generous about participating.  

• If you are in desolation (an Ignatian term that indicates spiritual turmoil due to a loss of faith in God, loss of belief in God's existence, loss of trust in God's power), do not make any major decisions. Wait until you return to consolation before making any serious decisions. 

• Take care of your body. Use exercise to burn off emotions so they do not get lodged in your flesh and make you sick.

• Reach out to those people in your life who are immigrants or who have family that are immigrants to offer support and to demonstrate that there are many people in the US who believe their lives are sacred and that they are a gift to our country. Consider joining a local organization that is plugged into immigrant rights so you can keep current with the intensified crucifixion that looms under the Trump/Vance administration. 

• Reach out to friends and family in the LGBTQ community and assure them of your love and support. Continue to reach out to them to provide the ongoing opportunity for them to share emotion.

  

• When you feel ready, familiarize yourself with Project 2025. This 50-page guide breaks down the 900-page document. It will help you know what to look for under the Trump/Vance administration. Talk about it with friends and family, and bring it into your prayer to discover any invitations from God.

• Do the examen at the end of each day. This will help keep you connected to God. Ask the questions, "Where did I see/experience God today? How did God touch others through me? Where did I miss an invitation from God?" If you feel especially vulnerable or afraid, the Dark Spirit will be working overtime to tempt you into despair or negative behaviors or bad decisions. Use the examen to notice and de-fang these temptations. If necessary, speak to a spiritual director.  

• Pray for the grace to process, accept, and adjust to this new reality. You may already feel God's Spirit mobilizing God's people into a response of courageous love. Ask God to knit us into a people that will rise to this occasion, in defense of what is true and good and right, that we might be brave in the face of darkness.

 
I pledge to you that I will be a Catholic voice that speaks out against fascism and the policies of harm that will be perpetrated against God's people and creation. May each of us burn brightly with the light of love, uniting into a great sacramental sign of God's undying commitment to liberate the world. We are called.

In prayer,
Father Anne +