Religion and the Common Good

This is a portion of a talk given by Archbishop Charles Chaput O.F.M. Cap of Denver at the John Cardinal Krol Conference, "Promoting and Protecting the Common Good", in Philadelphia on 21 April 2007.

"Brothers, we most truly serve the common good by having the courage to be disciples of Jesus Christ. God gave us a free will, but we need to use it. Discipleship has a cost. Jesus never said that we didn't need a spine. The world doesn't need affirmation. It needs conversion. It doesn't need the approval of Catholics. It needs their witness. And that work needs to begin with us. Bernanos said that the "scandal of Creation [isn't] suffering but freedom." He said that "moralists like to regard sanctity as a luxury; actually it is a necessity." He also said that "one may believe that this isn't the era of the saints; that the era of the saints has passed. [But] it is always the era of the saints."

The only thing that matters is to be a saint. At least we can try. And if we do, God will take care of the rest."

The whole talk can be found here at the Archdiocese of Denver website or at here at First Things website, or here at Zenit.