The Act of Love

Guess who!

If we don't love the poor and do all we can to improve their lot, we're going to go to hell, the Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, recently said. It's not pretty, but it is real. And not just if you believe in hell, but if you care about the future of the country, of civilization.

We actually are a people of compassion, and we happen to believe that people who want to serve their neighbors out of love of God and humanity are a necessary thing for our neighborhoods, for civil society, for the life of our nation. And perhaps it is largely out of a fear that there are not enough of those people that so many of us have fallen into a reflexive, default position that the government must provide.

But the government can't give love like a woman who has devoted her life to Christ, forgoing marriage and children so that she can serve; American history was built on the service of Catholic sisters, running hospitals and schools. The government cannot provide palliative care like them. Our default position must be ensuring such women have the space and latitude to serve.

Yes, that is unmarried childless Catholic loon Kathryn Jean Lopez, offering us a tasty meal of word salad for no compensation whatsoever.