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Trustees disappointing
The opportunity to be an elected official is a “call to service” and it is very disappointing that this seems to be lacking in the recent conversations and actions of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. As Catholic Christians, we are responsible not only to the people with whom we interact on a daily basis, but we must also answer to our Lord.
We are a reflection of the teachings of Jesus and of the Roman Catholic Church and this is a grave responsibility, especially for those in public life. From time to time as a Catholic community we are called upon to defend our “faith-based” education. Incidents where trustees seem to put their own need ahead of the needs of the constituents whom they serve will not help us to present the argument for preserving our school system, nor is it a good witness of our Catholic faith.
Jesus calls us to be the salt of the Earth; each of us needs to take our faith out into our everyday world and demonstrate that we can make a positive difference because of the presence of Jesus in our midst.
Lynda Clayton
Markham, Ont.
Join the battle
We would like to commend you for your May 18 editorial, “The party’s over.” We appreciated your firm stance on the growing income gap which is so incongruous in a financially prosperous country such as Canada. We support your call for governments to adopt policies that promote the common good, while providing special attention to the vulnerable, not the most powerful and the wealthiest.
We would like to highlight our recent campaign, Envisioning Canada Without Poverty. We are calling for citizens to contact their MPs to call for a federal poverty reduction strategy. We don’t need to merely accept the poverty that affects 3.4 million Canadians created in the image of God. Readers can learn more about poverty reduction strategies and how they can get involved on our web site at www.canadawithoutpoverty.ca.
Together, we can work towards a Canada without poverty.
Chandra Pasma
Policy analyst,
Citizens for Public Justice
Ottawa, Ont.
Shame on macho heroes
Distressing — there is no other word for Dorothy Cummings’ June 1 column, “Soldier of Canada, soldier of Christ.” If nothing else, it underlines the disconnect of Catholic moral teaching on war from the life and teaching of Jesus.
It is praise for the justification of the church’s complicity in 1,700 years of violence. It passes over the earliest example of the martyrs’ non-violent commitment to the Christ of the Gospels. It makes a mockery of lives committed to the Great Commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
It reveals how the mind of the church is profoundly divorced from the mind of Jesus. Shame for promoting the military lifestyle and its macho heroes. Shame for promoting a catechesis, no doubt held by the majority of Catholics, which avoids Christ’s non-violence and His mandate to love in the face of evil.
Philip Schmidt
Toronto, Ont.
Jesus died for all
I was looking through the letters to the editor to see what was there, when I came across this letter analysing the soul of Tony Blair. Considering that it was published in a Catholic paper, I was surprised at its rancour. The writer assumes that he or she can see into the heart of another person. Not really a person, but a Teflon personage.
I thought the commandment to love your enemies was known to all Christians, but I have now discovered that an assault on the character of a famous person who is in the news is acceptable for publication. Is he worthy? Are we the judge? I hope you do not repeat this kind of slander. Jesus Christ dies for us all, and if He didn’t, He would have told us.
Virginia Edman
Toronto, Ont.
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