Pope Francis proposes to us a tremendous challenge this month that we pray that political leaders be at the service of their people, working for integral human development and the common good, attending to those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poorest. And I say “tremendous” because we cannot decontextualize this prayer intention from the global framework in which an important part of political activity is discredited.

But it is possible to live good politics as a mission and sending, like other missions, such as being a teacher, a mother, a father and so many others. And with the distinction that since these are people who exercise power and authority, the “spill-over effect” of good politics could be a blessing for people. That is… love being at the core of politics. The Pope tells us “love, full of small gestures of mutual care, is also civil and political, and is manifested in all actions that seek to build a better world. For this reason, love is expressed not only in intimate and close relationships, but also in macro-relationships, such as social, economic and political relationships”

Where does it lie that the political mission, which “is a very high vocation, is one of the most precious forms of charity, because it seeks the common good” (Pope Francis), be reinstated and lived as a mission of compassion?

Only the transformation of the heart of the person, who comes to the understanding through experience that politics is a service to others and not a field in which “servants” serve others. Pope Francis reminds us that “for the disciples of Jesus, yesterday, today and always, the only authority is the authority of service, the only power is the power of the cross, according to the words of the Master: ‘You know that the rulers of the nations rule over them and their leaders oppress them'”.

“Jesus’ whole life was an act of self-giving, a being-for-others; it was an attempt and a realization in his existence of the overcoming of all conflicts. In the name of the Kingdom of God, Jesus lived his being-for-others to the end, even when the experience of death (absence of God) was felt by him on the Cross almost to the limit of despair. But He trusted and believed to the end that, even so, God would accept His sacrifice and saving surrender for the good of all humanity” Step 7 of The Way of the Heart. 

This month is an opportunity to go through the heart of Step 7 of The Way of the Heart “We give our life with Him” and to ask ourselves: How is our service progressing? How do we live our dedication? Do we serve or do we use others? Good politics asks for prayer for those who exercise it and also for the task of living our dedication and service in our daily lives, because the transformation of the world also depends on these small gestures of love.

Bettina Raed

International Coordinator The Way of the Heart