October 18, 2026: Coke or Pepsi?

Coke or Pepsi?

OK, I have a number of items and I want you to raise your hand to indicate which item you choose, mirroring me as I hold them up. [I announce the pair, then hold the items up and have everyone raise either there left of right hand to indicate their preference.] Coke or Pepsi? Cats or dogs? Doritos or Sun Chips? Butter or margarine? Morning or night? Apples or oranges?

Some were easy, some tough, right? The Pharisees in the gospel wanted Jesus to choose between two issues. Either answer would get Jesus in trouble. If he says no, they can accuse him of rebellion against Rome. And a yes answer will make him unpopular with the people, who find the Roman tax a tremendous burden. 

We often want Jesus to give us a yes or no answer to things: gun control or no gun control, vaccines or no vaccines, immigration or closed borders, tariffs or no tariffs.

But considering how Jesus responded to the Pharisees, I doubt he would give us the simple yes-or-no answer we're looking for. Jesus comes not simply to speak to issues but to our hearts. Jesus’ agenda is not one of politics and power, but of the reign of God . . . a reign with compassion, reconciliation, justice and mercy. Jesus comes not with answers, but with a vision for approaching those questions.

Jesus would probably say something like: “What good is it be pro-this or anti-that, when children are starving, when families are in crisis, when the world’s wealth is in the hands of a few, when innocent people are persecuted and abused because of their skin color or the place where they were born, or how they name God?”

Jesus might say, “I am calling you to something greater then labels. I’m asked you to see the world as my Father sees it, to understand God’s dream for the world. It’s a dream that begins with what you see, feel and believe in your heart, the place where my Father’s spirit dwells with you.”

Now as you know, the elections are coming up and we yearn for clear answers to complicated questions and complex problems. But the decision about whom to vote for must be discerned in conscience and in the values we hold in the depth of our hearts. If we search for black and white solutions, we will probably miss the nuances of any issue.

Even our U.S. Bishops have recognized this difficulty. They have long published Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, a document intended to help Catholics form their consciences for political life. In recent years, they have described abortion as a “pre-eminent priority.” Some Catholics have taken that phrase as if it were a voting instruction—that abortion alone determines how a Catholic should vote.

But that is not what the bishops are saying. The bishops continue to identify abortion as a pre-eminent priority, while also calling Catholics to consider the many other serious threats to human life and dignity: euthanasia, gun violence, racism, poverty, the suffering of migrants and refugees, the death penalty, war, economic inequality, family life, and care for creation.

And the bishops make another important point: they do not tell us whom to vote for. They call us to form our consciences according to our Catholic faith and then make careful, informed judgments about the complex choices before us.

There has never been a political position that is 100% consistent with all Catholic teaching. It means we must consider the whole of Catholic moral teaching, give each issue its appropriate moral weight, and allow our faith—not simply our political party—to shape our choices.

This also fits with this weekend’s recognition of the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. For 100 years, the Church has reminded us that the Gospel is not something we keep inside these walls. We are sent into a world that is complicated, divided, wounded and hungry for hope. And we don't go into that world carrying a list of political answers. We go carrying Christ. We go with compassion. We go with mercy. We go with justice. We go with generosity. We go with the conviction that every human being bears the image of God.

That's why Jesus doesn't give the Pharisees the answer they want. He gives them something much more difficult. He gives them a way to live. “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” And whose image is on us? . . .God's.

Which means that before you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, pro-this or anti-that, you a child of God. And so is the person sitting next to you. And so is the kid in your class that you don’t get along with. And so is that starving child on the other side of the world. And so is the immigrant. And so it the person on death row. And so is the person who will vote differently than you.

The coin may belong to Caesar. But you belong to God. So as we go into this election season (and as we go into the world as Christ's missionary disciples) don’t worry so much about choosing sides, choose Christ. And then let Christ shape whatever side you take. Because the world doesn't need more people simply choosing sides. The world needs people who choose Christ. The challenge is to let our faith shape our politics, rather than letting our politics shape our faith.