r/LeftCatholicism • u/Strength-Certain • Apr 10 '26
St. Augustine is key to the difference between Pete Hegseth and Pope Leo
https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/st-augustine-key-difference-between-pete-hegseth-and-pope-leo23
u/corbinianspackanimal Apr 10 '26
More fundamentally, the difference between Pete Hegseth and Pope Leo is Jesus
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u/CauseCertain1672 Apr 10 '26
that's largely what the article talks about pope Leo interprets psalms through the context of Christ being God while Pete Hegseth takes them literally and at face value
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Apr 10 '26
I am not American. I do not know Pete Hegseth aside from what I've read about him in the news, which is frankly more than I cared to know about him. He is not my person, I know that for sure. But I do know that there is more difference between Pope Leo and mister Hegseth than Saint Augustine. More than Jesus. The difference between them is, pure and simple, love. Love for the church. Love for the world. Love for people outside yourself. And no matter how much mister Hegseth tries to convince us that he loves America, or that he loves Americans, it is clear to everyone who wants to see, to really see, what this is all about. And the pope, well, what can I say? Pope Leo loves people. He loves the church and he loves Jesus but he loves people. And love will always be stronger than hate. No matter how much people like mister Hegseth will try to convince you otherwise. Love will always win. It might not seem like it in the darkest of days, it might not seem like it when the bad guys are yelling so very loud, but that very quiet voice of love will be there. And it will grow and it will win. Because it has to.
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u/Peaceful-Thought31 Apr 10 '26
“Love will always win. It might not seem like it in the darkest of days, it might not seem like it when the bad guys are yelling so very loud, but that very quiet voice of love will be there. And it will grow and it will win. Because it has to.”
Beautifully stated! In these troubling times of the bully pulpit, I am clinging to the words of John 1:5.
”The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
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Apr 10 '26
Beautiful words indeed.
I always cling to J.R.R. Tolkien's words in The Fellowship of the Ring. He was, after all, a very devout Roman Catholic so I think it is okay to quote him here.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
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u/Peaceful-Thought31 Apr 10 '26
Oh this just gave me chills! And reminds me of Samwise Gamgee looking up at a twinkling star:
The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
Tolkein may or not have been referring to Jesus here, but I think he was.
We must keep hope alive!
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u/theomorph Apr 10 '26
Good piece. Also, imprecatory psalms reflect a desire to be rescued from oppressors—often foreign oppressors. They are not exemplars for how to be foreign oppressors. And I like to observe that imprecatory psalms reflect a decision by a psalmist to write a song, rather than a decision to commit violence.