I was reading an editorial in the National Catholic Register about the amount of charity that comes from America's churches. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion found that religious groups and churches contribute $1.2 trillion each year to the American economy. This includes all kinds of giving and services. The editorial goes on to say that this is more than the annual revenues of Apple, Amazon, Google and more. If this kind of giving were measured as an economy of a nation, religion in the U. S. would be the 15th largest national economy in the world. Wow!

I mention this as an answer against those who claim that organized religion has been a blight or a cancer in our country. "We don't need religion to help us-they are no help," too many say. I wonder how they feel about the Catholic hospital in their rural town, or the Catholic nursing home that tends to their parents, or the food
pantry run by the local church, or the St. Vincent de Paul that helps when they lose their jobs, or toys collected for poor children at Christmas, or Easter baskets for families in need, and on and on. Yeah—organized religion does so much harm, rriigghhtt!

Religion is a God send, not a problem. It tends to be a problem for those who want to do whatever they want, without question or comment. Those who see religion as a cancer generally are in life styles that contradict them and challenge them to repent, convert and love the God who loved them first. For such people, religion is an obstacle to a happy life. "Don't judge me" is the motto of the anti-religionists. Their religion is self pleasure, their credo is
materialism, and their call to belief is a moral relativism that blows in the wind, never taking root except to confuse and confound.

I wonder what our country would be like without religion and the gift of religion which is charity in the heart of God. Religion stands as a check against excess. It reasons where emotion reigns and it loves where materialism fails. Religion is not a blight on our culture, it is a pillar of it. Religion stands as an ensign, a pillar of strength, and a remedy when the winds blow.

Look around, see what our religion does, united with other people of faith and Godly people of good will! The next time you hear someone say, "Organized religion is a disease", tell them that it is quite the contrary. It is the evidence of God's love, expressed by Godly hearts and demonstrated with Godly hands. It's great to be a Catholic!