When we look at the world around us, we might feel like the prophet Habakkuk in today’s first reading. We see violence towards mothers and unborn infants through abortion. We see violence towards those who are elderly or infirm through euthanasia, which is also known as so-called physician assisted suicide or “death with dignity”. We see violence throughout the world in wars and other armed conflicts between nations. We see violence in families and towards children in both physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. We see countless other ways in which humans perpetrate violence against other men and women. We look around and want to cry out like Habakkuk, “How long, Lord?”
Today has been set aside as Respect Life Sunday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is one Sunday out of the year in which we are asked to consciously examine in our lives what we are doing to encourage respect for the dignity of human life in all its forms, from conception to natural death. We need to take this day to closely examine our response to a “culture of death”, in the words of Pope John Paul II, that seeks to end any human life seen as unwanted, inconvenient or burdensome.
We have been commanded by Our Lord to spread the Gospel to the whole world. Of course, we do this on an individual level through teaching what Jesus taught and living our lives by His example, but we also do this by working to change the world on local, state, national, and international levels. Christianity is not a private religion, not merely “me and Jesus”, but calls and challenges us to constantly seek ways to reform the world to follow the plan of God our Father in Heaven.
As Christians, we need to fight against this culture of death and proclaim boldly that all humans, whether wanted or unwanted, convenient or inconvenient, have the right to be treated with the dignity deserving of a child of God, and each one of us has the right to life from the smallest infant in its mother’s womb to the most infirm and helpless among us. We need to fight for laws that defend life, not take it. We need to challenge our legislatures and elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to place the protection of human life above all other worldly concerns.
I know it’s difficult for us to raise our voices in a crowd, to write the letters, make the phone calls, do the actions that this fight against the culture of death demands. I still remember the first time I prayed in front of an abortion clinic. It was a terrifying ordeal to stand out in front of that building, making my pro-life views known, but yet I felt called to go back again and again. To this day, praying at pro-life vigils in front of these so-called “clinics” is difficult, but yet it needs to be done.
St. Paul encourages us, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord […] but bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Standing out against the crowd, defending a view that is not popular or even opposing the laws of our nation, is not easy, but we must not allow fear to prevent us from speaking out. As Catholics in union with the teachings of the Church, we have the promise of Christ Himself that what we defend is not merely our opinion or political view, but the Truth revealed by God through His Son and defended and taught throughout the years by the Church which was given to us by Christ.
For those of us who dare to call Jesus Lord and call ourselves Christians, we have been commanded by Our Lord Jesus Christ to defend the Truth He revealed against those who would advance a culture of sin and death. May we follow that command, tirelessly seeking to support and defend the respect of human life in our community, nation and world.
