In what is becoming an intensely contentious debate, some serious Catholics are questioning whether they can vote for Donald Trump in light of his softening on certain pro-life issues. For many of these Catholic voters who might refuse to vote for Trump, it would not matter even if Kamala Harris made it a “day 1 priority” to force all pregnant Christians to abort their babies — as a matter of principle, all that matters is that they cannot support a man who does not align with Catholic teaching on pro-life matters.
Wherever we land personally on that issue — and surely there are pious and sincere Catholics on both sides of the debate — there is another question that is perhaps equally important: what would we do with another Trump presidency? Given the likelihood that it might take a miracle for anything good to come from the election, our answers to that question may help determine whether we can petition God’s grace for a favorable outcome.
For the most part, serious Catholics on both sides of the “lesser of two evils” debate recognize that a Harris presidency would almost certainly be an unprecedented disaster for American Catholics. Having no merit, her campaign depends entirely upon presenting her as the woke, anti-Christian alternative to Trump. A Harris win would come with an anti-Christian mandate, and it would be dangerously naive to assume that she and her puppet masters would refrain from crushing serious Catholics. Thus, even those Catholics who do not intend to vote for Trump cannot actually desire the persecution that Harris could inflict, unless they have an ardent desire for their martyrdom and that of their fellow Catholics.
Accordingly, we can think of a potential Trump presidency in terms of at least a minor mitigation, or at least a temporary delay, of the anti-Catholic horrors that Harris would joyfully inflict on us. Perhaps this would translate into greater freedom to promote Catholic causes (such as educating society about the evils of IVF); maybe it would mean not having to choose between taking mandatory mRNA shots and keeping your job or children; it might even mean that the pro-life movement is not suffocated on the grounds that it promotes domestic terrorism. With all his flaws, a Trump presidency would give Catholics far more breathing room than we could expect from Harris.
What would we do with that extra time free from serious persecution? We must ask the same type of question generally with respect to all of the time God gives us this side of death; but when faced with a “fork in the road” opportunity such as that represented by the presidential election, it is useful to consider how we would act if given just a little more freedom to serve God according to our desires. If we will not use it profitably to honor and serve God, then it is of no real value even if it happens to spare us from martyrdom. So how should we honor and serve God if we are given a reprieve from the anti-Catholic horrors of a Harris presidency?
Whether we will vote for Trump or not, we can offer in advance our holy desires to serve God ever more faithfully if we are spared the horrors of an anti-Christian Harris presidency. But that offering will almost certainly be far more efficacious if we make it now, unconditionally. In that way, we will do all we can to deserve God’s protection and favor regardless of what happens in November and beyond.
Become Saints: All throughout salvation history, the best use of the time God gives us has been to cooperate with His grace to try to become saints. There is no other reason for which we have been created, and our temporal and eternal happiness will increase in proportion to our efforts to serve God as well as possible. We also know that God uses His saints as instruments to rescue the world from darkness, which is what we need so desperately today. Moreover, everything else we do generally becomes immensely more effective if we are trying to be saints.
Combat the Evils of Society. Whereas a Harris presidency would have an anti-Christian mandate, a Trump presidency would at the very least have an anti-woke mandate. Of course this does not mean we can persecute the purveyors of filth outside of what the law allows, but we are under attack now and have a duty to defend ourselves with every tool at our disposal. If we have another Trump presidency we ought to do more than ever to combat the evils in our society.
Try to Convert Wayward Catholics. We would not be in this predicament if we did not have such an astounding problem with cafeteria Catholicism. As discussed in a recent article, if we want to convince non-Catholic politicians and voters to support Catholic morality, we should first persuade Catholics to support Catholic morality. In addition, the greatest source of wickedness in the world today is the treacherous apostasy within the Church. Referring to this apostasy in a recent letter, Bishop Jospeh Strickland reminded us of the need to speak out against the false shepherds:
“We must never leave Christ’s Bride, but neither can we remain silent as others attempt to change her or make her a caricature of the vessel of salvation she is meant to be.”
The Church and world have suffered for sixty years as enemies of the Faith have masqueraded as Catholics, spreading lies in the name of the Church. We have a duty to charitably but forcefully combat this evil, especially by trying to bring wayward Catholics to the unadulterated Faith.
Pray and Sacrifice for Our Nation. Without God, our nation and world will soon fall into diabolical chaos; but we are not powerless because we know that we can petition God’s grace through prayer and sacrifice. Without a doubt, we would be able to sacrifice greatly under a Harris regime, but voluntary penance is more meritorious and has the power to bring others back to God while there is still time. And, as Jesus told us, some demons are only cast out with prayer and fasting:
“Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:16-20)
While we still have time to avert, or least prepare for, the chastisements we have deserved through our collective failure to serve God, we can make reparation and petition His grace. If we do not, we will surely regret it.
Obviously we do not have to wait for a Trump presidency to do any of this. We have some time now — and a Trump presidency might allow us a little more time — but there is never a bad time to store up treasures in Heaven:
“Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
Jesus gave us this key to life, but most of us pay little attention to it in actual practice. Among the real benefits of living in such troubling times, though, is that we have a definite realization that our treasures on earth are in jeopardy.
Whether we will vote for Trump or not, we can offer in advance our holy desires to serve God ever more faithfully if we are spared the horrors of an anti-Christian Harris presidency. But that offering will almost certainly be far more efficacious if we make it now, unconditionally. In that way, we will do all we can to deserve God’s protection and favor regardless of what happens in November and beyond. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
