Welcome to the deadline reality of Wisdom Wednesday. What you are reading today was collected in recent days and prepared for presentation on Tuesday. That’s yesterday, not today. That’s before the Election is counted and certified. That’s why we begin with a link to continually updated election information from the UK-based publication, The Guardian.
Election updates
The Guardian’s U.S. edition of the UK based newspaper promises to update election results throughout the day.
‘Man of Faith’
Christopher Hale offers his views about Abdul El-Sayed, who “Could Make History in Michigan on Tuesday.” From the syndicated ‘Letters from Leo.’
Parental rights
Ballots in several states deal with parental rights. National Catholic Reporter says the issues can ve traced to anti-Catholic times.
Pope casts ballot
In a papal first, Leo votes in US midterms, says the National Catholic Reporter. Pope Leo XIV became the first pope to vote in a U.S. election by submitting a mail-in ballot in his native Chicago, the Vatican has confirmed.
President’s politics
President Donald Trump has repeatedly encouraged voters to pretend he’s on the ballot this Election Day. He’s not, of course. But there is reason to believe that Tuesday’s midterms, above all, will be a referendum on his performance over the last two years. From the Associated Press.
Obligation to vote
OPINION Every American has the obligation to vote. But in this week’s midterms, white Christians in particular have a responsibility to undo the damage they’re done by supporting Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.
From Baptist News Global.
Jesus and foreign policy
Rubio makes Great Commission about America in new video. From Baptist News Global. Rubio is an advocate for Christian nationalism, the belief that America was founded as a “Christian nation” and evangelical Christians ought to run the government based on their religious views.
‘It’s all about Jesus, stupid’
Everything we who claim to be Christ-followers do needs to filter through the lens of Jesus Christ. It’s implied in the name “Christian.”
Muslim ban condemned
Ohio senator condemned for wanting to ban Muslim candidate from DC. From Baptist News Global.
Peace at the polls
Catholics work for peace at the polls, as US heads to midterm ballot box. From National Catholic Reporter.
The death penalty
Catholic group honors death penalty opponents, says church ‘has something to say.’ From National Catholic Reporter.
Israel
ANALYSIS Why Americans should pay attention to the crisis in Israel. From Baptist News Global.
Does love of neighbor threaten our society?
OPINION In our modern political landscape, to love your neighbor is painted as a socialist tendency that threatens the very existence of our country as we know it. Or something like that. From Baptist News Global.
That meeting at the White House
EDITORIAL From the National Catholic Reporter. Bishops’ prayer for Trump may have been sincere. For Trump, it was pure politics.
At the Supreme Court
Supreme Court takes up religious liberty, LGBTQ rights in Catholic preschool case. From the National Catholic Reporter. At issue in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy is whether a Colorado state program violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause because it requires that participating preschools abide by a nondiscrimination policy.
Settler violence in West Bank
Olive harvesters in last Christian community in West Bank suffer violence and harassment. From Independent Catholic News. During the olive harvest, the village of Taybeh – the only remaining fully Christian community in the West Bank – has been suffering violence and harassment by settlers.
Pope’s video to Assisi
“There is no such thing as a holy war.” From Independent Catholic News.
At Assisi, a Nagasaki memory
From Independent Catholic News. As a six-year-old walking to school on that August day in 1945, Katsuko Tanaka recalled a tremendous flash, her hair, neck, and arm being burnt before everything went dark.
‘I felt like I wasn’t alone’
After learning of Pope Leo’s diagnosis, a lung cancer patient reacts. From National Catholic Reporter.
Five Catholic friars one step from sainthood
Nearly 430 years after they were killed in a bloody uprising by Native people they came to the New World to baptize, five Spanish missionaries will be elevated to a step away from sainthood during a religious ceremony in Georgia. From National Catholic Reporter.
‘Crossroads’ for LGBTQ+ Catholics
40 years after Cardinal Ratzinger’s ‘Halloween Letter,’ the anti-gay message lingers, according to the National Catholic Reporter. The letter, profoundly devastating, represented a crossroads for many LGBTQ+ Catholics.
Protection from mega-prison pollution
Religious orders in El Salvador seek to protect the community from mega-prison’s pollution. From National Catholic Reporter.
Black history events
For Black Catholic History Month, Black Catholic Messenger provides “the events in various Dioceses that you don’t want to miss in November!”
Justice Bulletin Board
Barbara Molinari Quinby writes, “As we approach Thanksgiving, let us give special thanks to the farmworkers who toil to bring the produce to market. I give you two prayers for your reflection.”
Who to canonize: Pope’s final word
How the Pope Became the Final Word on Sainthood. From the well-meaning attempt to canonize a noble pup to a streamlined administrative process reserved to the Vatican, the practice of declaring saint has come a long way. Feature from National Catholic Register.
Going to a haunted house
Feature “When Things Go Bump in the Night, Who You Gonna Call?” The National Catholic Register interviewed 35 priests throughout the country asking if they have ever been asked to go to a purportedly haunted house.
Bonhoeffer’s warning
In a 1939 essay, he compares the German and US churches—and asks what Christian freedom looks like when political pressure overwhelms theological clarity. Feature from the Christian Century.
The rise of the American Muslim public servant
It turns out that organized Islamophobia has given American Muslims the incentive to organize as well. Feature from the Christian Century.
The Book of Common Prayer Is Having a Moment
Christians across traditions are turning to liturgy for its rootedness and depth. Feature from Christianity Today. “I didn’t understand what was happening,” he recalled. “I was so depleted. … The liturgy works whether you have the energy for it or not.”
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