In “Now the hard work begins for conscientious Catholics” (CR, Nov. 4) Tony Magliano continues to espouse the mantra of Catholic social justice. Instead, Catholics should encourage their government to create an environment that will allow the individual to tend to the sick, respect life, be good stewards of the environment, etc. By singing the verses of social justice and having the government step in to do God’s work, Magliano diminishes the rights and dignity of the individual, banishes God to the closet and eliminates the Holy Church.
Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When I live my life as Jesus taught and help those less fortunate than myself, I give glory to God. If the government steals from me and gives to another in the name of social justice, to whom does the government give glory but unto itself?
Being a Catholic in the United States is the ultimate opportunity for the individual to fulfill the two great commandments of Jesus. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Let us pray that Catholics in America wake up to the opportunities that our Founding Fathers gave each and every one of us.