Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this…Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the church cannot be expected to change her position on this question… It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life…”

— Pope Francis

FROM YOUR PASTOR

Here I am Lord, I come to do your will…

Psalm 40 is not a 3000-year-old prayer…it is the essence of Our Being today as Children of God.

This is Respect Life Weekend in the Archdiocese of Denver. With the restrictions of COVID, there is no Rally — here or in Washington DC — but there are dozens of Respect Life Masses and Para- Liturgies throughout Northern Colorado.

Archbishop Aquila has led the Masses and Rallies since my Ordination in 2013. Archbishop Chaput punctuated my Conversion to Pro-Life during my Discernment in 2009.

That Conversion began as I sat as a Delegate to the County Convention in 2008 and listened to the Party Platform. My Spiritual Conversion had begun in Summer 2007. As Jesus does in those conversions, He broke through my Heart of Stone on this issue and opened my ears as I listened to the Platform that day…and I knew I had a problem.

Six months later, during a Discernment Retreat, Archbishop Chaput was asked about Abortion.  His response was immediate and direct…he said, ‘Give me the baby, and I will find a home for the baby.’

WOW! My Conversation was complete at that moment…my Atonement was yet to come!

Eleven months later, in Seminary, I participated in my first of four National Marches for Life in Washington DC. It challenged me then to EXAMINE MY CONSCIENCE about MY PASSIVITY FOR 37 YEARS.

It caused me to ask myself whether I was always an AUTHENTIC FRIEND when the concept of Abortion came up in discussions with friends or as part of a public policy discussion. Was I authentically vulnerable to the implications of such convictions if they affected my future career or perceived friendships with colleagues? Was I a Man of Courage, or a Man of Accommodation?

The answer came in WHAT I SAW and WHAT I EXPERIENCED.   The majority of those attending the two days were young people — over 13,000 at the Vigil Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, over 17,000 at the Youth Rally and Mass, and many times the permitted 50,000 – estimated at several hundred thousand — who marched, sometimes in falling snow, to the steps of the Supreme Court.

 

Why did the March end there? Because on January 21, 1973, every American had a Right to Life. And every American born since January 22, 1973 — the next day – the day of the Roe v Wade decision by the Supreme Court, has been born without a Right to Life. Since then, there have been over 62 million abortions in the US. And, thanks to YOUR PRAYERS at Clinics and Liturgies around the Country, the rate is declining.

 

How did I REACT to what I saw? Ultimately, It was one the reasons that I made a GENERAL CONFESSION after the second March and before my Transitional Deaconate Ordination. I realized WHAT I WAS NOT as a Christian and as a member of the Church. I HAD NOT BEEN AN AUTHENTIC FRIEND in Conversations about Abortion. I WAS NOT AUTHENTICALLY VULNERABLE to what God was asking me to do in WITNESSING MY FAITH…and telling the truth in respecting life. I had not come to do God’s will…I was living my will…I was not holy. I did not let God’s GRACE guide my actions…give me COURAGE…give me PEACE.

 

So, HOW DO WE SUPPORT LIFE? We do it by RESPECTING GOD’S PLAN FOR EVERY HUMAN LIFE. We do it by NOT IMPOSING OUR WILL ON THAT LIFE. We do it by being an AUTHENTIC DISCIPLE AND WITNESS FOR THE DIGNITY OF ALL HUMAN LIFE – from conception to natural death.

 

REMEMBER, NO LIFE IS AN ACCIDENT. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EVERY LIFE…EVEN THE 62 MILLION ABORTED LIVES.

 

So, how do we live this RESPECT LIFE MISSION?

 

First, through AUTHENTIC FRIENDSHIP. If you know someone who is pregnant and has doubts, talk with them and pray for and with them. Support the Father of the baby who may just want a quick resolution to the inconvenient reality. And among the Married Couples you know, if they are unable to have children of their own, talk to them about Adoption…just as Archbishop Chaput advocated.

 

Second, through AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY. As the Mystical Body of Christ, Church, and Community, WE ASSIST — NOT JUDGE. We ensure that the needs of the Mother, especially if she is single, are provided…through St Vincent DePaul Societies, the Pantries, or other forms of Community Assistance such as Catholic Charities. And, if in pregnancy the child is anticipated to be a Special Needs Child, we work as a Parish Community to assist the parent/parents…food, errands, house chores, date nights…or just a loving ear to hear or shoulder to cry on…Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy become powerful tools to touch and shape lives. Authentic Live Endures — through your support of their Pregnancy and their Parenthood.

 

Third, THROUGH COMPASSION. Abortions are never FORGOTTEN. If a baby has been aborted, encourage the Mother or Father to name the baby…and Pray TO the Baby every day. There is NO HATE in the purity of THAT BABY’S HEART. There is NO HATE IN HEAVEN. That baby is now your intercessor with God…looking at the Face of God…the same Face you hope to see someday.

 

These actions require YOUR VIRTUES OF COURAGE, HUMILITY, AND OBEDIENCE…Courage to assist, defend, and not judge…Humility to respond to the situation with a Servant’s Heart…and Obedience to follow the Promptings of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Mother or Couple to accept the Gift of Life and assisting as a Community to raise the child.

 

Here I am Lord, I come to do your will ..for OTHERS, for MYSELF, and FOR LIFE…

 

+May God Bless You and Keep You+