Fr. Tom Collins Adds His Opinion to the Presidential Debates.

I pray that the observations below, seeking to get the beam out of my own eye,

will help all of us to appreciate more deeply our need for the regenerative grace

offered to the world by Christ through the gracious ministry of His Holy Spirit.

Thank God that the gates of hell cannot prevail against a repenting heart.

Please pray for the ongoing conversion of all us pastors.

In Christ,

Fr. Tom

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Many have fallen into the trap of capitulating to media propaganda by agreeing

with the premise that Trump is “the lesser of two evils”.  Although I do not agree

100% with everything he is proposing, I cannot find anything pro-actively and objectively

“evil” in what Trump is proposing for our nation.

True, he has to work in a nation where

large numbers of the electorate have become trapped in perversion, addictions and/or

resentments. Thus, unless we are blessed with a powerful infusion of divine grace, his

proposed policies may be far from perfect. But the principles guiding those policies truly

seem to be in harmony with the ongoing call to repentance guided by objective moral

truth, rather than the ever-evolving and perverting demands of political correctness.  

Likewise, his “incompetence” is actually a sign of his willingness to be respectful toward the

truth and open-minded to carefully discern factors that may not seem, initially, to be in full

harmony with his proposed policies, as he to promote integrity both to our laws and to our

law enforcement policies.

And we should note that, as a businessman, he knows how to conduct the art of the deal.

And he knows and respects the fact that contractual obligations need to be taken seriously.

Thus it is that, respecting the parameters clearly delineated in the Constitution, he is keenly

aware of the fact that he is running to be President of the United States, rather than a dictator

seeking to suppress and oppress his opponents through selectively enforced bureaucratic

regulations. He along with most informed Americans citizens knows that, as President, he will

have to work with the Congress and negotiate deals that will be workable for all, rather than

use his pen and phone to undermine the powers Constitutionally delegated to Congress

and to the courts.

Clinton, on the other hand, insists that no pre-born child should have the right to live, that guns

(not hatred, lust and greed) cause crime, that parents should send their unaccompanied children

on a hazardous thousand mile journey to illegally enter America, that the Little Sisters of the Poor

be required to support the barbaric butchering of pre-born babies in order to be allowed by the

government to care for the frail elderly, that she should be allowed to do for Americans what she

has so dramatically done for people of Libya, Iraqi and Syria, that objective sexual morality is a form

of “hate speech”, and that freedom of religion should be limited by the government to freedom of

worship. These and a number of other policies she has promoted over the years are positively evil.

Thus, while I may disagree with Trump on certain details as to how to realistically promote

the integral growth of our nation, I must remember that we live in an imperfect world. And

that world has become increasingly imperfect over the years due to the pusillanimity of us

pastors (myself included), who have so often been willing to use “prudence” as an excuse to

capitulate to the demands of expediency.

We all need to remember that the weaknesses that led to the betrayal Christ, the denial of Christ

and the abandoning of Christ were even present among His chosen Twelve Apostles, whom He

Himself personally instructed and formed for several years. Thus, I can confidently and regretfully

say that it is even more possible for myself and other pastors to capitulate to crass materialistic

pragmatism for the sake of a transient sense of security and success. And, just as the chief priests

and scribes, who occupied the Chair of Moses, were willing to use expediency as an excuse to crucify

Truth Himself, there is a real and present danger that us pastors, who are in communion with the Chair of Peter, can become so dull in our spiritual discernment that we too can fall into the temptation to crucify at least some dimensions of the Truth of God for the sake of the vapid rewards offered through amoral expediency.

God be merciful to me, a sinner! And Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of the Clergy, share with me and all pastors your humility, docility and reverence toward the Truth, Who is Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior.

In Christ,

Fr. Tom Collins

Sacred Heart Church

Covington, VA