American politics today is about seeking power and vilifying those who get in their way. It is in stark contrast to the message of Jesus, a message I believe the Pope is calling us all back to.

American politics today is in stark contrast to the Gospel lesson from last week where Jesus, confronting the disciples who had been arguing who was the greatest, said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

American politics today is in stark contrast to the Gospel lesson for tomorrow:

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

All of this comes to mind as I read the Washington Post article, What John Boehner told me the night before he said he was quitting

Speaker Boehner is quoted as saying, “The pope says to me, ‘Please pray for me.’ ”

Now I’m not a Roman Catholic, but I have great respect for the Pope and I believe we should all be praying for Pope Francis. I’m certainly not a Republican, but I believe we should be praying for Speaker Boehner, for the Republican Party and for our nation.

We need to move past the seeking for power and vilification of our political opponents and start working together to love those who are different from us, whether they be people of color, immigrants, people of different faith traditions, those with different genders or sexual orientations than our own, and even those with very different political beliefs than our own.