Sam Miller, a Jewish business in Cleveland, gave the following talk before a City Club gathering in Cleveland in 2003. As the intro from CatholicOnline states, what Miller said then is even more evocative today. Such a spirited and factual defense of the Catholic Church in the USA (and universally), without minimizing the depravity of the guilty clergy, is astonishing from a non-believer. On that score, actually, his apologia is even more arresting than it would have been coming from a Catholic. What this Jewish man is literally trying to do is wake up the sleeping giant that is the Church militant and get the faithful out of their lethargy. You can sense from his speech that he is scandalized that the Church in America in 2003 is standing on its heels in a defensive mode, taking hits, doing nothing, instead of walking upright and forward, asserting its role as a leader, a force for moral rectitude, the strongest force, says Miller, for justice in this country by far. The talk was published in the Knights of Columbus June/July 2003 newsletter, the Buckeye Bulletin. The Church owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Miller. He is someone we can all pray for. No, more than that, indeed we must pray for him, if we have true charity. He has done Our Lord in His Mystical Body a much needed service. Even though we cannot agree with everything the man suggests, we owe him gratitude. Still, I don’t think he wants “thank you’s”; I do believe he is so clearly open for actual graces that he would enthusiastically welcome our prayers instead of our kudos. We must pray for his conversion and salvation. I haven’t done any research yet for an update on him, other than finding no obituary for him. So, I know that he is alive; and, judging from his picture, he is not young. I’ll try and find out more about him and also find some friends of SBC in Ohio who could contact him and send him some challenging literature. Perhaps the Slaves of the Immaculate of Mary in Vienna, Ohio, could look him up. Yes, that’s an idea! “Sisters, are you reading this”?
CatholicOnline reports:
[Editor’s Note: Some speakers have no idea that their words may either become timeless or, at least, receive a broader and longer-reaching influence when they first give a speech. The following was shared by well known Cleveland businessman Sam Miller at the City Club of Cleveland, given on Thursday, March 6, 2003. Even though of the Jewish faith, Miller has been a staunch supporter of the Cleveland Diocese and then-Bishop Anthony Pilla.] Read full speech (four pages) here.
