God often calls us from unexpected places. Mine was a household shaped by love, labor, and the unwavering hope that education could change everything, which came at a cost.
Today, I serve as a parish priest at Bellarmine Chapel, a vibrant Catholic Jesuit parish composed of college students, young families, and long-standing community members. It’s a joy and a privilege to walk with them in faith. But my path to this place began in Kansas City, Missouri, in a household held together by grit, love, and a deep belief in the power of faith and education.
My dad worked multiple jobs, my mom relied on credit cards to help us get by, and my grandparents did everything they could to keep me in Catholic school. That choice, made because our public school district was under-resourced and failing, came at great financial sacrifice. At 13, I began working to help however I could, even if it was just to cover my own needs. We may not have had much, but I was never without people who loved me and fought for my future.
That’s why the current debate in Congress over the “One Big Beautiful Bill” − a sweeping tax and spending package − matters so deeply to me. Its implications are vast. But behind every line item and policy debate are real families − people like mine − living paycheck to paycheck, falling through the cracks, and praying that someone in power sees them.
The version of the bill recently passed in the U.S. House has several positive provisions that would help those in need. It expands the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, making housing more accessible and affordable − something desperately needed. It also includes elements that support families, such as improving access to adoption and paid family leave.
However, the most significant portions of the bill would cut off critical resources from the poorest in our communities. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could cause millions to lose food assistance through SNAP and over 10 million to lose health care coverage. The bill calls for unprecedented spending to detain and deport unauthorized immigrants, tearing apart families who have been part of our communities for decades. It also eliminates nutrition assistance and health care for immigrants here legally, including refugees and survivors of human trafficking. It ends programs and tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, harming the environment and eliminating thousands of blue-collar jobs in Ohio − a concern that 21 congressional Republicans have raised. While the bill extends tax cuts, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the poorest will lose resources while the wealthy benefit.
We don’t need to raise revenue by putting millions at risk of hunger and poor health while the top 10% gain. There are other ways Congress could raise the funds, such as the alternative minimum tax, the estate tax, or increasing the top tax bracket, as President Donald Trump once considered.
Every Sunday, I stand before our church and proclaim the Gospel. In one of Jesus’ best-known teachings, he doesn’t ask what we believe or how we worship; he judges the nations by how they treat the hungry, the stranger, the sick, and the imprisoned. He doesn’t suggest we care for the vulnerable − he commands it. The late Pope Francis captured this in 2013: “The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need…”
Millions of families face impossible choices. That was the costly choice my family made. If this bill is to be truly beautiful, it must protect the vulnerable and create conditions where everyone can flourish. That is what makes a society great.
Rev. Damian Torres-Botello, S.J., is a Jesuit priest serving as parochial vicar at Bellarmine Chapel, part of the Jesuit Parish Family in Cincinnati.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A ‘big beautiful bill’ doesn’t starve the poor and feed the rich | Opinion
Reporting by Damian Torres-Botello / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
