Wantagh – Young Catholics should not be afraid to consider whether or not they have a vocation to government service, guest speaker Mary Bossart told the young adults gathered at the September Faith on Tap, because the gifts of the Holy Spirit give them the tools they need, and serving at a local level of government is a great opportunity to practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Bossart, former co-director of the diocesan Respect Life Office and mayor of the village of Rockville Centre, spoke to the approximately 30 young adults who came to the Wantagh Inn here Sept. 29 on the topic “Faith and Politics: A Catholic in the Public Square.” For seven years, Faith on Tap has provided a forum for Catholics in their 20s and 30s to discuss questions of faith and morals. The group meets once a month, and each session usually has a specific topic and a guest speaker.
“We all have to find what our vocation is,” said Bossart, “and know that we’ve all been given some definitive work by God, and it’s not necessarily going to be the same the entire time in your life. There are threads that help to make the fabric of your life. I’m first of all a wife and mother. I’m also a daughter and a sister. It was out of those roles that my work in the village grew. Once you have children, you realize one of these days those children walk out the door of your home and you feel that you need to do something about what goes on in the larger community around you in order to make the world a better place for your children.”
“It’s such an enormous privilege at this level of government, because you are a person who touches other people’s lives,” she noted. “My days absolutely fly because I’m always working with people and I really, really enjoy that. It is one of the most incredible opportunities to actually practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. What are the corporal works of mercy? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the captive, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead.
“And the spiritual works of mercy,” she continued, “are to admonish the sinners, to instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead. There isn’t any other kind of work that I’ve done in my life that gives you such an opportunity to do all these things on a day to day basis and frankly, you never know which thing you’re going to be involved with on a particular day.”
Pope Benedict calls everyone to be a light in society, Bossart explained, but we have to have tools in order to be that kind of light. “Wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude or courage, understanding, piety or reverence, and fear of the Lord. These are the tools that we are given at Confirmation. This is the reason why anyone can work at the kind of work I do and know that they have what it takes to do it. Sometimes it seems very scary to take on this kind of responsibility. It’s serious. It’s challenging, but it’s not ever something to be afraid of. We need more Catholic people to become involved at this level. We need people at this level of government. We are the people who are closest to everyone in our communities. What we’re doing here, this is something everyone in this room is completely capable of doing. We’ve been given the gifts to do this, to share our example, our faith, by what we do.”
Members of the audience submitted questions for discussion. In response to a question about how to start getting involved in local politics, Bossart noted, “I think the place you begin is with something you’re interested in, because you have to be engaged. So if you care about the environment and there’s some group in your community that’s working on that, that’s where you start. You watch how the group works, what the needs are in the community, what the agenda is within the organization, you develop your own skills, be it by helping with a newsletter or giving a presentation or assisting in fundraising and you learn whatever skills are needed in order to communicate ideas to people at the local level. And you see if it’s for you. You have to choose something where you feel you’re meeting your potential, that you are doing the work that God intended for you to have.”
Another question asked in what ways Bossart sees the face of Christ in her work. “Each person that comes to you,” she said, “you have to realize that they’re sharing something very special about themselves with you. There’s generally a need of some kind that has to be addressed, and you are the hand of Christ in that work when you reach out to these people. God has no hands but your hands to do these things.”