Sucked In by Father Don Farnan – February 2, 2026
Outgoing United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was recently asked if he had any advice for his successor. He responded, “Don’t get pulled into the politics.” Regardless of one’s job or position in life, it is easy to get sucked into politics. It happens in church, school, health care, law firms, union jobs, family life, and everyday encounters. To me, the most nonpolitical people in society are first responders who help regardless of ideological forces.
Having recently watched the award-winning horror movie, Sinners, I decided that the political world has things in common with the vampire world. The film’s characters are just out for a good time during a difficult period of prejudice and persecution in American history; while none of them wants it, they get bitten by and sucked into the unending darkness of sadistic parasites. Once bitten, they are stuck; the main character has to exist for eternity without his twin brother, who he loves as the best part of himself, and without ever again seeing the
light of the sun.
It’s an overstatement on my part, I know, yet a metaphor for us to contemplate. Most of us just want to make the most of our lives and enjoy goodness, even during incredibly difficult times. We don’t want to get bitten by a bloodsucking way of living nor get sucked into a darkness that seems to have no good way out. The nature of spirituality is to help us rise above polarizing forces of earth so that we can view the world through the light of faith. Whether it’s politics, polarizing messages, negative feelings, pessimistic attitudes, or simply feeling that
our words or thoughts don’t matter, we would do well to rise above these things by taking a deeper journey into faith, hope, and love. (If you prefer, substitute politics with gambling, pornography, cybercommunication/interaction, the false self, or other addictions that pull us in.) Among the stories of Jesus is one
in which He instructs disciple-fishermen to cast their nets deeper. They were content functioning in the way they always operate, but He asked them to trust Him on this instruction and do things a little differently: Go deeper!
Each Lent, the church also asks us to go deeper so that we might rise higher. I will host three mini retreats near the beginning of the season: Friday, February 27, 9-11:00 AM, Sunday, March 1, 2-4:00 PM, and Thursday, March 5, 1-3:00 PM. If you are interested in joining for one of the sessions, reserve a spot by
emailing me at frdon@stjkc.org. If needed, we can add more dates/times later in Lent. The gathering will offer a prayerful setting to look at obstacles that separate us from happiness, consider some divisive social/civil issues that suck us in, and learn from one another how to live with integrity by honoring the dignity of others and common good of all. We will discuss the stage of life in which we exist and how to act our age in ways that honor our forebears and give hope to those who will follow us in future generations.
What the Catholic Church calls sinners, others might think of as those who suffer the human condition (or who get sucked into the suffering of societal ills). I don’t know if the film, Sinners, is simply acknowledging that we are all susceptible to dark forces that could control us or that seductive and powerful evil spirits exist in the atmosphere right along with good spirits that try to orient us toward happiness, but it offers us pause to contemplate what is most important to us in life. If we are primarily motivated by faith and family, God and goodness, love and living life to its fullest, then we will find ways to overcome national and personal challenges that pull us in directions we don’t want to go. We are stronger when we walk with others rather than walking alone and when we think like first responders who simply help without judgment. The church gives us this great
time of Lent to better understand how walking through the desert can lead us to a Promised Land. Let’s walk together in faith and not get pulled into things that diminish us or get sucked into being destructive.
