From the 9th Archbishop of New York, part 1 of 4.

Long before I was an exchange student to a Roman Catholic seminary, I’ve had a warm place in my heart for that church and its work.  Probably it began with my parents’ appreciative attitude toward St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia, Illinois when I was a pre-schooler.

Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop emeritus of New York, died recently. His successor, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, says that part of his legacy are the three questions he asked constantly as he led the Roman Catholics under his care.

The first: “Is it good for the people?”

It’s a question of focus and priority.

Jesus said that The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27) and Cardinal Egan understood that the church is in the business of helping people, not the other way around.

That’s true not just for our churches but also for us as individual Christians.

Today, my hope and prayer for you and me is that our decisions and actions will be guided by this first of three questions: “Is it good for the people?”