Senator Sam Brownback, Convert as of Easter 2003

As some of you may know, this Easter marked my first as a Roman Catholic. I was deeply struck by the beauty of the Easter celebration. Our call to live faithful lives in the world is beautifully demonstrated in the Easter liturgy in so many ways. During the Easter Vigil, as the candle slowly processes from the back of the Church to the altar, we are reminded of how the power of Christ shattered the darkness. As we participate in that life-giving act of God, we become candles of light shattering the darkness for those around us.

St. Thomas More, the patron saint of politicians and lawyers -- two professions that desperately need a patron saint -- taught that "man cannot be separated from God, nor politics from morality." St. Thomas More stood boldly as a sign of contradiction in his own society by refusing to be separated from God when political pressure sought to separate politics from morality.