“Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
Pope Francis’ Day for Life Greeting
With these words, Pope Francis has captured so well our Catholic understanding of human life and insistence that every person, from the moment of natural conception to natural death, receive the care he or she needs to live and thrive. Pope Francis has captured the world with his humility, warmth and compassion for each person. We have all been touched by the news clips showing him spending time with the elderly, the imprisoned, and those with disfiguring disabilities. Why? Because these interactions reveal a truth that resonates in our hearts, demonstrating to us, in a very personal way, that God loves us all.
October is Respect Life Month and Respect Life Sunday has been observed for 45 years on the first Sunday of the month. It was established to call all Catholics to pray for enlightenment for the Supreme Court Justices who were deliberating the case that came to be known as Roe vs. Wade. Since that dreadful ruling in January 1973 which legalized abortion in the U.S.A. up to the time of viability, over 62 million abortions have been performed legally in our country. And so, we must continue to pray for that time when abortion will go the way of slavery in our land and we will respect all human life from the moment of natural conception to the moment of natural death.
Although the focus of Respect Life Month has long been on abortion, the teaching Church has come to address the issues of contraception, embryo research, reproductive techniques, persons with disabilities, capital punishment and euthanasia as well, for they all have to do with the protection and promotion of human life from natural conception to natural death – the seamless garment. All of this is based on our strong conviction that, since only God is the author of life, and he has destined all humanity for himself, only God has the authority to determine when human life begins and when it ends. We, his beloved creatures, have the serious obligation to care for every life he has created in his image and likeness as best as we can, recognizing that God loves everyone equally.
This year, the USCCB has provided leaflets to help us understand the issues more fully in these various areas; you will find them on the tables at the church entrances. I strongly encourage you to take them home and read them prayerfully; they offer excellent insights and advice.
This parish has long had a clear respect life focus and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Matt and Maria Sowden, the chairpersons, for their continued involvement in this important ministry for the protection and promotion of the most vulnerable in our midst: the unborn, the sick, the elderly, the depressed, the imprisoned.
As we observe the 46th Respect Life Sunday and begin another Respect Life Month, I urge everyone to pray for an ever-greater appreciation of the sacredness of all human life from conception to natural death. Let us all pray and work for that day when America will truly be a land that protects the most basic of human rights – life – for all people and respects God’s law of love for every human being.