Cue the video: Elections come & go, but Faith requires we advance the common good year-round!

Tuesday’s elections have come and gone.  Many of us are relieved to be able to watch our favorite television shows or listen to our favorite tunes without a barrage of partisan attack ads. We know the start of the 2014 campaign cycle is just a few months away.

Our responsibility as Catholic citizens does not end with voting. Our faith calls us to advance the common good not just at the polls, but through action in our daily lives. We cannot simply vote and then wash our hands of participation in political life until the next election.

Pope Francis made this point recently.  “None of us can say, ‘I have nothing to do with this, they govern.’ … No, no, I am responsible for their governance, and I have to do the best so that they govern well, and I have to do my best by participating in politics according to my ability,’’ the Pope said. “Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good.”

Our Catholic voice is needed to promote the common good 365 days a year; as much as always!  How can we bring about a Virginia where the dignity of human life, from conception until natural death, is upheld, and where the family and the poor and vulnerable are protected?

The Virginia Catholic Conference advocacy network is the easiest way to make your voice heard. You may already be a member of the Conference’s network. But are your family members, fellow parishioners and friends? Faithful citizenship is needed every day of the year – not just before an election. Now is the time to urge them to join the Virginia Catholic Conference advocacy network. For a look at the Conference’s advocacy work and to learn how you can become involved, check out the two-minute video and then share it with your friends!  Tell them to join us! The cause is good!