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Letters to the Editor

Wealth, weddings, and sin

Phil Argento • Aug 26, 2024
Thanks to Robert Brennan for his Aug. 21 column in AngelusNews.com (“This $600 million wedding doesn’t compare to my parents’ nuptials”) on the simplicity and sincerity of his parents’ wedding prompted by an extravagant wedding of two super-rich persons.  His references to the opulence portrayed in “The Great Gatsby” were spot on. U.S. billionaires do not have a monopoly, in the words of the economist Thorstein Veblen, on “conspicuous consumption.” Rulers and oligarchs from Solomon through Louis XIV have created spectacles of individual and family wealth, manifesting that cardinal sin: pride.  But there have been rich saints such as St. Louis of France, St. Charles Borromeo of Milan, and St. Thomas More of England. Each of us, whatever our wealth, should reflect on our resources to identify what more we can do in light of Matthew 25:31–46. — Phil Argento, Pasadena

Authors of God’s love

Stephen Watson • Aug 13, 2024
Just a thank you note to Heather King for her article, “The risks of revolution without Christ.” It was very enjoyable and informative. The paradoxes she points out in the lives of Father Carretto, Dorothy Day, and Caryll Houselander reminded me of Chesterton and helps us remember how wide is the love of God. — Stephen Watson, Vista, Ca.

Church’s positions are clear

Margaret Short • Aug 09, 2024
Regarding John Allen’s “More than a Swing Vote” article in Aug. 9 issue: When faced with the absolute evil of the Democrats’ stance on abortion and transgenderism, emphasizing the Church’s “neither left nor right” political position is unhelpful and misleading.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has made clear that abortion is the greatest social evil and that the Church needs to be unified in condemning the party and politicians who are blatantly pro-abortion. We can argue about effective environmental policies later. — Margaret Short, Pasadena

Think about what art is concealed

Brother Carmel Duca • Jul 30, 2024
After reading the article “Tainted Tiles” by Gina Christian in the July 26 issue, about the Knights of Columbus’ decision to cover mosaics by Marko Rupnik, I hope that churches in Rome and Malta, which house the famous Caravaggio paintings, are not similarly pressured to obscure them with fabric. After all, Caravaggio was a convicted murderer and escapee. I also cringe at the thought of plastering “The Last Supper” at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, painted by the alleged homosexual (and abuser of a young apprentice), Leonardo da Vinci. — Brother Carmel Duca, MC., Los Angeles

The Jewish roots of purgatory

Marilyn Boussaid • Jul 16, 2024
Thank you for the beautifully written article on purgatory by Mike Aquilina in the July 12 issue.  I am a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith who was raised with very little religious education, and I actually felt more Jewish after my conversion to Catholicism than I ever had before. The article’s discussion of the Jewish/Old Testament roots of the Catholic doctrine on purgatory was enlightening to me. In particular, I was really happy to learn about the prayer, El Malei Rachamim, and looked it up so my niece and I can pray it together at my brother’s (her Dad) gravesite. We all struggle with resentments and attachments that can distance us from God. Mercifully, he provides the sacraments for the living and this final means of purgation, or purification, to enable us to receive his love fully in the life to come. — Marilyn Boussaid, St. James Church, Redondo Beach

The truth about Dante and purgatory

Deacon Serj Harutunian • Jul 15, 2024
I enjoyed reading Mike Aquilina’s cover story in the July 12 issue about how Dante did not invent purgatory, but rather supported Catholic teaching poetically. Citing Jewish thought, Church Fathers and Pope Gregory the Great, and ending with “What do Catholics believe about purgatory” citing the Catechism, were home runs. — Deacon Serj Harutunian, St. James the Less Church, La Crescenta

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