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Warring of words should be expected when the goal is truth, reader says

In response to John F. Fink’s editorial “On serving the poor” in the Dec. 20 issue of The Criterion, please consider the following comments.

“Warring” between Christians and between Catholics will not end any time soon. We have been warring with one another since the beginning of the Church, and we can anticipate disagreements and even schisms between Christians to be common until kingdom come.

These wars of words and ideas are what get at the truth of the message of Christ.

This warring history was solidified to me in Fink’s book, The Doctors of the Church: An Introduction to the Church’s Great Teachers. Fink skillfully described saints like Athanasius, who warred against Arianism, and St. Augustine, who fought heresies like Manichaeism, Donatism and Pelagianism.

The Gospel is incredibly complex, and the messages within are not easily discerned. Somewhere inside is Christ’s message about who exactly is the poor, and what it means to serve the poor.

It is clear that both liberals and conservatives desire to serve the poor. Where we differ is discerning who is the poor and how are they best served.

How can we possibly arrive at the truth without a war of words and ideas? The conscience is a mighty thing, and matters of poverty, education, economy and employment are no small matters.

Warring of words should be expected when the goal is arriving at truth.

- Kelley Faler | Indianapolis
 

Problems with poor stem from lack of emphasis on God, loss of focus on important things

With regard to the poor, the problem lies not with capitalism and free-market systems. The problem stems from a lack of emphasis on God, and a loss of focus on what is and is not important. Consumerism is not the disease; it is a symptom of another deeper malady.

As St. Thomas Aquinas noted, it is imperative for salvation that one knows “what one ought to desire, what one ought to believe and what one ought to do.” Any intention for a socialistic state such as Communism is pure folly. It pines for a system with no choice, no freedom and no food for body or soul.

I pray that Pope Francis does not indeed have Marxist tendencies. It is the last thing we need in a world of growing hatred, discord and tyranny.

- Christopher Haze | lndianapolis