“…That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.” How remarkable is the dignity to which each of us is called! Do we live in a way that reflects the dignity that is ours as Christians?
            That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you. In baptism, each of us entered into the life of the Risen Christ. We participate in the life of Risen Christ here and now by virtue of our baptism in Christ. The daily challenge for each of us is to strengthen our participation in the life of the Risen Christ precisely so that the glory of Christ might dwell in us and that glory be reflected to the world. We can only strengthen our participation in the life of Jesus Christ through an active life of prayer, through thoughtful and prayerful participation in the sacraments, and through a conscience effort each day to reflect in our lives the values of Jesus Christ – his compassion, his mercy, the welcome he gave to all persons, his concern for the poor, the powerless, the weak and the stranger, his complete dedication to God, our Father, and his willingness to submit himself in humble service of all of God’s people. When those values of Jesus Christ become powerfully present in our daily lives then the glory of Christ shines brightly within us and illumines the world in which we live. Jesus Christ is glorified in us!
            Unfortunately, in the current political campaign we have seen a coarsening of human behavior that should shock us and shame us. The vulgarity, the degradation of women, the denigration of immigrants, the prejudice against Muslims, and the resurgence of racist rhetoric should serve as a reminder to us that the dignity to which we have been called is easily lost when we succumb to the baser instincts of our human nature. We cannot glorify Christ in us if what we say and do betrays the values to which Christ gave witness in his life. Can we say that when others encounter us, they encounter the Christ revealed to us in the Gospels?      
May all of us fulfill the dignity to which we have been called by God in Christ Jesus!   
      Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J.