There is a troubling characteristic of our society to rely
on government to solve all the problems. I’ve even heard folks comment that a
“true humanism” obtains when government takes care of all the needs of its
citizens. Poor Government! It was never meant to work so hard.
In this sense, Tony Magliano’s political platform for all
people (Making a Difference, July 18, 2016), so obviously right regarding what is wrong, gets it all
wrong as to doing it right.
We need to correct the wrongs with the least government
possible. True humanism is one human helping another human in a spirit of mutual
cooperation and love. This humanism relies on Christian virtues lived every
day, particularly the Christian virtue of personal poverty which is absolutely
necessary for staying awake to the needs of those around us.
A great weight must be put on the individual responsibility
of every Catholic, particularly laity engaged in human affairs, to be Jesus
Christ and thus to bring Jesus Christ into her or his environment: into work,
into family, into society.
Unfortunately, Mr. Magliano simplistically relies on
government programs: the redistribution of tax dollars from the military budget
to curing poverty. This impersonal approach to charity has not proven
successful in the past 100 hundred years because it does not touch the hearts
of either the giver or receiver.
The social teaching of the Catholic Church was intended to inform human consciences, not government programs. Here in the
United States we got off on the wrong foot in 1917 when the U.S. bishops
organized the National Catholic War Council to preach the “duty” of all
Catholics to support the war effort. This coercion of consciences, by the
predecessor of the USCCB, makes God small by demonstrating skepticism that the
Catholic lay person – informed by the Holy Spirit and the teachings of the
Church – is capable of making proper decisions in his or her personal engagement
with the world.
Yet, this is where the true revolution lies and it starts in
the heart of vibrant Christian families where the basic lessons of a person’s dignity
and responsibility to the world are learned. Our revolutionary creed is spelled
out in Familiaris Consortio and Amoris Laetitia.
Let’s read these, learn
their lessons, and do our part. Let’s let Christ reign!
