Deacon Steve's Homily - Respect Life - 27th Sunday Ordinary – A

On this first Sunday in October, we are celebrating Respect Life Sunday.

In fact, the month of October is Respect Life month. 

The 40 days for Life Campaign is underway across our country and around the world.

Our parish is active in this campaign.

Later we will hear from our parishioner (Bob Siefker or Christina Lopez) about the Gabriel Project, another Respect Life project that we participate in.

Your help and your prayers for both of these efforts are greatly appreciated.

I thought today would be a good day to talk about the Church’s understanding of ‘life’ issues and how we can live it out in our modern world.

The Gift of Life (Donum Vitae) 1987 (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

‘From the moment of conception, the life of every human being is to be respected in an absolute way because man is the only creature on earth that God has "wished for himself"[16] and the spiritual soul of each man is "immediately created" by God;[17] his whole being bears the image of the Creator. Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves "the creative action of God"[18] and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end.[19] God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being.[20]’

As I reflected on this statement, I thought about our current culture, specifically about  abortion and euthanasia.

Both of these are at the forefront of the ‘Right to Life’ campaign, and rightfully so.

We have an obligation to protect the most defenseless in our society – the unborn and the elderly.

Saint John Paul II called our current culture a ‘culture of death’.

But we know that our God is not a ‘God of death’ but a ‘God of life’.

One of the early church fathers, Irenaeus of Lyons had this to say: 

‘The glory of God is the human person fully alive.'

And God wants each and every human being to live and to have a ‘full life’ in right relationship with Him.

We believe that all of us are children of God, made in God’s image and likeness, and therefore all people deserve the utmost dignity and respect.

Who are all people?

People who live in our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, our country, and around the world.

People who have different color skin, who speak different languages, who profess different beliefs.

People who believe in God and people who do not.

People who are heterosexual and people who are homosexual. 

All people means every person on the face of the earth.  <pause>

So if abortion and euthanasia are the bookends that are contrary to life, what about those ‘in between’ issues? 

In 1983, the late Cardinal Bernardin, a champion for pro-life issues had this to say: 

“The case for a consistent ethic of life – one that stands for the protection of the right to life and the promotion of the rights, which enhances life from womb to tomb…is both a complex and demanding tradition.”

He goes on to say: “Therefore, not just the unborn, not just the poor, not just the hungry, not just the homeless, not just the war-torn, not just the undocumented, not just the medically uninsured, not just condemned prisoners, not just the environment, and not just future generations, but all of the above deserve our care. Everyone’s life and dignity needs to be fully protected and respected.”

Let’s think about those issues and remind ourselves that all human life is sacred.

So I invite all of us to ponder these questions: 

Do I respect all people including the unborn and the elderly?

Do I respect the poor and those living on the margins of society?

Do I respect all people of different nationalities and religions?

Do I respect all people who are living on death row?

Which begs the question – ‘how do I really feel about capital punishment?’

Do I respect and love my enemies?

And, do I respect myself?

These are tough questions to ponder especially in today’s world.

Today’s world where war and violence are everyday occurrences.

Where hatred seems to dominate, where peace is only a word.

At times it seems so hopeless, doesn't it?

But we know that nothing is impossible for God.

For our God is a God of life, a God of love, and a God of peace.

In our second reading, we just heard Paul's message to the Philippians:

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

To us this message is timeless and is all about our Christian faith and the power of prayer.

Respecting life and loving all people is a way of life that has been written on our hearts by God our Creator. 

Jesus came to show us that way of life.

Let’s begin to transform this world, one person at a time, beginning with ourselves.

Let’s ask for the grace to show us those areas in our lives where we fall short of living the Christian way.

For those times where we fail to love our neighbor and we knowingly or unknowingly disrespect life, let’s approach our merciful God and ask his forgiveness.

May we ask our Lord ‘to increase our faith’ so that we can respect all.

God bless you all!