Letters to the editor

IMMIGRATION DEBATE I

Instead of castigating Joe Biden for not imposing on others his personal views on abortion, we should praise and support his efforts on increasing access to vaccines for COVID and health care, reuniting migrant children with their families, paying attention to climate change and repairing the damaged U.S. image worldwide. Suggesting President Biden is not practicing his Catholic faith is shameful given Joe Biden’s clear commitment to humanity. I, for one, am pleased to see a compassionate human being in the White House.
Kathleen Economides
Delmar

IMMIGRATION DEBATE II

Responding to the “Immigration Debate” letter from John Olenik. He mentioned the “Render unto Caesar …” quote from Jesus in regard to the immigration laws. That quote was referring to paying taxes. If you attach it to the immigration laws, you have to go further and look at what is God’s (law). The people are God’s children and the land belongs to God, not to us. God has a bigger stake in this issue than “Caesar.” I think we will have to answer to how we treated God’s end of the deal rather than how we obeyed the laws. As Catholics who follow Christ’s teaching, we have to have compassion before we obey man’s laws. And I think Jesus wants each of us to pay our fair share of our taxes.
Andrea Mungas
Cambridge

FASTING FROM SIN

If “Fasting from sin” (March 4) is such a challenge for you then it looks like for all the world that you have not yet gotten born again by receiving Jesus and having faith in His Name. Otherwise, just by doing what comes naturally as a son (daughter, if you prefer) of God Jesus believer — being led by Jesus as your Boss and the Holy Ghost as your Teacher and source of power and energy — you could very easily stay away from sin.
Joel Nelson
Schenectady

WINDOW INTO THE PAST

Kelly Grimaldi’s article on St. Joseph’s revived old memories. (As a visitor) I played the pipe organ there in the early 1970s. It was originally installed in 1859 by the Simmons & Wilcox Co. — 57 ranks, 4 divisions. By the time I was there, it had been enlarged by the J.H. & C.S. Odell Co., to 74 ranks, 5 divisions — making it one of the largest pipe organs in the city, as far as I’ve been able to determine. One of the divisions — “the Echo” — was located in a rosette above the center aisle in the nave. Because of the proximity to outdoor temperatures and the difficulty of getting to it, the Echo division was often out of tune with the rest of the instrument. Oh for the privileges of the “good ole days,” when parishes could afford to support art, architecture, literature and music!
Rob Brown
Schenectady

Note: Rob Brown was privileged to be organist at St. Vincent de Paul (Father Leo O’Brien) and St. James (Father. Tony Sidoti) from 1974 into the late ’80s.

Letters are subject to editing and should be 100 words or less, concern topics covered in The Evangelist and include your town and telephone. Essays or opinion pieces, 700 words maximum, are also welcome. We prefer submissions by email ([email protected]), or by mail (40 N. Main Ave., Albany 12203)