A number of resources are available for Catholics to assist them. A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR CONSCIENTIOUS CATHOLICS lists three principles:
· Inform your Conscience by prayer, reflection and dialogue with others as we
search for truth;
· Apply prudence, the moral wisdom required to apply principles to an imperfect world and unforeseeable circumstances;
· Vote for the Common Good, which provides for the health, welfare and dignity of all people and focuses on helping those who need it most.
This guide is available from the website: www.thecatholicalliance.org.

Another resource published by the Maryknoll Fathers is THE CATHOLIC VOTE: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Clarke E. Cochran and David Carroll Cochran. To order, call 800-258-5838 or visit www.orbisbooks.com. The authors state: The Catholic tradition offers a body of social teaching that has enormous potential to speak to our political challenges in new and compelling ways.” Our tradition addresses a vision that goes beyond them, a vision in which all God’s people share in the common good.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also published a guide in 2003: Faithful Citizenship, A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, which contains some 50 different isues. This document is on the Internet at www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship.

Finally, as all citizens must, we Catholics need to ask whether our politicians call us to our highest rather than our lowest selves; whether they speak of national interest and shared obligations rather than to selfish attitudes and a lack of willingness to sacrifice. We must also listen to one another gracefully, to do the hard work of discernment, testing our views against those of our fellow citizens In a democracy, this kind of interaction is vital!

It is well to remember that the common good is not solely a Catholic value; it is also a founding principle of our nation.