At a mass in Brazil yesterday these words:

You believe in the God who is Love: this is your strength, which overcomes the world, the joy that nothing and no one can ever take from you, the peace that Christ won for you by his Cross! This is the faith that has made America the “Continent of Hope.” Not a political ideology, not a social movement, not an economic system: faith in the God who is Love—who took flesh, died and rose in Jesus Christ—is the authentic basis for this hope

“Not a political ideology, not a social movement, not an economic system: faith in the God who is Love…” What a radical message for American Christians to hear. We are growing ever more accustomed to hearing about faith only within the context of politics – Romney and Sharpton, Obama and Edwards, Republicans and Democrats – that we think more and more of a partisan God. We do not have a partisan God, we have “the God who is Love – who took flesh, died, and rose in Jesus Christ – …authentic basis for hope.” We should be rejoicing.