And yet another attack by Caesar…

…on yet another work of mercy: feeding the hungry.

The more spheres of life Caesar bans the Church (that would be you and me, not some parachurch organization or Catholic apostolate) from freely exercising the mercy of God, the more he guarantees that society will overheat from friction and burn to the ground. One of the many side benefits of the presence of the Church on planet earth is the countless small acts of social lubrication it provides by its members doing out of love what government organizations do with much less efficiency for pay.

The question is therefore not “Will the Church survive the growing hostility of the United States?” but “Will the United States survive its increasingly suicidal hostility to the Church?”

The works of mercy are our principal road to heaven as disciples, according to the parable of the sheep and the goats. It is not merely for the good of the least of these, but for the good of his saints that God ordains them. Caesar should beware of the fact that nemesis always follows hubris.

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” – Anatole France