October 30, 2024 Respect for the dignity of the human person and concern for the common good are the foundation stones of Catholic social teaching. Protecting human life from conception to natural death; promoting family life; gaining social justice in jobs, housing and health care; safeguarding the environment; showing concern for the immigrants; and attentiveness to the needs of the poor are among many issues for you and me to reflect upon as today the Church marks Respect Life Sunday and the beginning of Respect Life Month. Today, I ask you to celebrate life with me. We, as Catholic Christians, have been raised to believe – and we know – that all human life, even if weak and suffering, is always, always, always, a splendid gift of God’s goodness. All human life, every human life, from conception to natural death, is a sacred gift from our Heavenly Father. It is with this premise in mind, that we can see how the moral standards of the world have become rotten and decayed to the core. We are constantly bombarded by the false teaching of free love; marital promiscuity; the precious so-called freedom of choice to kill an unborn child and then sell the body parts without regard for the silent scream of the aborted; the desire to rid from this world the old and feeble, the undesirable, and the terminally ill. We have been sold a bill of goods – one which erroneously tries to teach us that whatever is practical, pleasurable or financially feasible, is right and good. Yes, ours has become a throwaway culture. We are placed on the defensive and accused of being intolerant. We have lost our moral compass, our ground of values. We, as Christians know God’s law. We know right from wrong. We know God’s law must be respected and obeyed to the best of our ability. We know that life, our own and that of others, is most sacred. Nothing can destroy that sacredness – nothing can overshadow the goodness of God in creating and sustaining life. No human law, no politician can go contrary to God’s law, no matter what the polls say. I mean, help me understand why we get so upset and uptight about the killing of baby seals, the hunting of lions on safaris and the salvation of whales caught on the ice floes – yet today we allow babies in the very process of being born, to be killed through the partial birth abortions. There is something evil and so wrong with that picture. And so many of us, Catholic Christians will vote for politicians who support this. Such a crime has no impact on us. We have become indifferent and insensitive. Such seems to be the folly and downfall of humanity. Abortion and euthanasia are heinous crimes that cry out to heaven for vengeance. In our comfort, so many of us remain deaf to the silent scream of the pre-born child in its mother’s womb and we ignore the heart-wrenching cries of the poor and homeless. They have become expendable. For all of us who are here today, having been given life and breath, what does God want from us? A respect for human dignity, a respect for human life in all its forms. The poor, the elderly, the neglected, the dying, everywhere and every time to be treated as a man, a woman, to be considered as a child of God. Life is the most precious gift that God has ever given to us, all of us. We all need the mercy and love of a Savior. It is our responsibility as God’s children to foster and protect His divine teachings. That’s where our support for the family is so crucial today. It is our responsibility to be counted either with Jesus Christ or against. “You cannot serve two masters.” I am not the master of my own body! God is! I only wish our politically correct public office holders, particularly Roman Catholics, would heed those words of Christ. Let us resolve anew this Respect Life Sunday, to find ways to build up what the Holy Father refers to as this “field hospital” we know as the Church and the domestic Church, our families. Let us minister to one another, constantly looking for ways to give the respect due every child of God, particularly the weakest and most vulnerable—the ones who have no one to speak on their behalf. As faithful Catholic Christians, each of us is called to do the work of properly informing our consciences and voting for candidates and policies that will best advance the natural law, the protection of human rights, the dignity of every human person, the sacredness of all human life, and the teachings of Christ and His Church. Specifically, as the NYS Bishops’ Letter entitled, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, tells us, educating ourselves is especially important regarding Proposal 1 on this year’s ballot. The title of that Proposal, “Equal Rights Amendment” might suggest a noble cause. But, if enacted, it will have dangerous consequences. Parents’ authority over their minor-aged children will be stripped away, permitting children to make destructive and permanent decisions on their own which they could well live to regret, including so-called “gender affirming” treatments and surgeries. Such intrusive legislation will legalize child abuse and deny parents their natural rights to raise their children and decide what’s best for them. This is extremely serious stuff! Such mutilation of the human body must be prevented. Pope St. John Paul II’s words resonate today: “we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life’…we are all involved, and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.” (Evangelium Vitae) My sisters and brothers, we need a revival of prayer and action. We must renew our commitment to work for the legal protection of every human life, from conception to natural death and to vote for candidates who will defend the life and dignity of every human person. We must call for policies that assist women and their children in need. We must continue to extend the hand and heart of compassion to all who are suffering from participation in abortion through the Church’s abortion healing ministries such as the Project Rachel Ministry. Join me in a concerted effort of prayer on behalf of all life, particularly between now and election day. May we witness, work, and vote so that all children in the womb will be protected in law and welcomed in love, and that all mothers and families will be strengthened by our support and accompaniment. Through our efforts and with our prayers, May God be Praised…forever May God be Praised! |
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