Our efforts to foster a respect for life continue

There are only three birthdays celebrated in the Church’s calendar: the birth of Jesus (Christmas), the birth of Mary (Sept. 8) and the birth of John the Baptist (June 24). John is honored in this way since he had the God-given role of announcing that the Messiah had come. The Bible records the meeting of Mary and John’s mother, Elizabeth, when Mary visits Elizabeth who is six months pregnant with John. The older woman, Elizabeth, symbolizes the end of the Old Testament, while the young virgin, Mary, heralds the beginning of the salvation Jesus would bring. Of special note is that John and Jesus first meet while still in their mothers’ wombs. Their lives had begun even though their births had not yet occurred. Elizabeth says to Mary: “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy (Lk 1:44).
This year June 24 was made even more special by being also the Feast Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a movable feast day and happened to occur on June 24 this year.  His heart was pierced for us and constantly reaches out to us to bring the forgiveness of sins.
It was on June 24, the day when we celebrate the merciful love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the birth of John that the Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade decision. This decision which resulted in the deaths of millions of babies, mercifully has come to an end.
However, our efforts to foster a respect for life have not ended. I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which from the beginning was objectionable for both Constitutional and moral reasons. As much as we welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, there is much work to do in order to call our country back to a respect for life. This issue now returns to the Democratic process in state legislatures. We need to increase our efforts to share with others that the pre-born baby is a human being so that our laws may reflect this. We need to win minds and hearts of our fellow citizens in calling our country back to a respect for life.
One of the ways to do this is to demonstrate that we truly respect every human life. We stand with the pre-born child because there can be no other rights unless first there is birth. At the same time we also need to do what we can to support mothers, families and their children and indeed every human life until natural death. We must support efforts to improve the lives of all. I am very proud that our Catholic Social Services serve thousands each year with emergency financial help with rent and utilities, food and clothing, support of mothers with problem pregnancies, parenting classes, repairs to homes, counseling, help to senior citizens with daily human needs, adoption services, legal immigration services, etc. All of this is made possible because of the generous support of the Catholic Charities Appeal by the people of the Archdiocese.
In addition, we must advocate for laws which will help people with the basic human needs of food, housing, medical care and education, as well as to end the laws which have the State execute prisoners in our name. Every human life has dignity, even those who have not respected the lives of others.
As Christians we must recognize, and ask others to recognize, the dignity of all human life. Each of us must have a respect for ourselves and for others. We must be consistent in our respect for each person. In this way, our witness to the respect for life of the pre-born baby will have greater credibility before others. In the darkness present in our society which has embraced a culture of disrespect for life, we must be the light which calls all to respect the lives of one another.