26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioners,

We begin Respect Life Month today. All human rights begin with the right to life. We have had many debates about what it means to be Pro-life the last 43 years. There is a plethora of life issues. We remember all of them this month.

Unfortunately, it seems to me, that we who claim to be pro-life spend a lot of time fighting among ourselves about what life issue is most important. And if a someone disagrees with us we spend our time concerned about that rather than struggling against situations and philosophies that denigrate human life.

In his Papal Encyclical Envangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) written in 1995, St. John Paul II argues that we must see the importance of all pro-life issues. He speaks of euthanasia, war, abortion, genocide, assisted suicide and a host of other ways that life is being taken in the world. His writing emphasizes the idea that we must have a “Consistent Ethic of Life.” This position has been proposed by popes and bishops throughout the world.

We cannot cherry pick the lives that are valuable and those that are not. That is not our place. Pro-lie is also not just about keeping people alive, but it is about making sure that basic human needs are met. If we respect life we want to make sure that people have the traditional basic human needs of food, water and shelter, but we want to see to it that people have an education, health care, jobs, security and can live in peace.

No one has all the answers to the complex questions of protecting human life. We must be humble and respectful in our dialogue. As a pro-life church, we cannot be violent in our actions or rhetoric. Our best course of action is to live the gospel; loving God and our enemy. This is the biggest pro-life challenge of all.

This is a month for study, reflection and action. Let us pray that we will use these 31 days well.

Blessings,

Fr. Mark

P.S. Remember that you can return you envelope to support Fr. Matthew’s appeal for the Society of African Missions at any time. People were very generous last Sunday so we are off to a good start.