This week, our hearts and
minds turn to the 46th anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court
decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized
the killing of unborn children through the terrible evil known as abortion.
Since that dreadful day on January 22, 1973, more than 60 million unborn babies
have been killed in this nation, founded on the very principle that every
person is given by their Creator the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.”
To put that number in some perspective, some 1.5 million Americans have been
killed in every war in which this country has fought since 1775. Put another
way, the number of children killed by abortion in this country so far is
greater than the present populations of the States of California and Florida
combined. To put it even more starkly, in the same span of time in which more
than 60,000,000 children were aborted in our land, just 138,115,440 were born.
The number is staggering, and terribly sad, and it continues due to ignorance
on the part of many who could have a hand in stopping it but refuse to hear the
truth.
The Bishops in the United States have
launched a major pastoral initiative calling for prayer and penance to promote
and build a culture of life, marriage and religious liberty. This initiative
includes “Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage,” which began January 14th
and continues to January 22nd (2019). It includes daily prayer
intentions for the healing and conversion of our nation, for elected officials
who support abortion, especially the so-called “Catholic” ones, and for all
people whose lives have forever been changed by an abortion.
Pope Francis has reminded us that
“faith, precisely because it is a free act, also demands social responsibility
for what one believes.” Everyone who speaks out against the horror of abortion
and seeks to give aid to women in crisis pregnancies is living out their faith.
Because we believe in the dignity of every human life from the moment
conception to the moment of natural death, we must speak out and call for a
greater respect for life in society in general and in our nation’s laws in
particular.
Whenever the Church teaches about
the dignity of all human life, she does not teach merely her opinion,
but the truth she has received from
Jesus. Because it comes from the Lord, it cannot simply be laid aside. To have
faith in Jesus Christ means “choosing to stand with the Lord so as to live with
Him.” Few
have stood so closely with the Lord, after a conversion to the truth, as Saint
Augustine of Hippo. He realized a certain
psalm was one sung at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. He further noted
that the new and ever-lasting temple of the Lord is being built of the sons and
daughters of the Church.
We, too, desire to sing a new song to the Lord because of the wonders he has
done for us; because He has revealed himself through these deeds, we believe in
Him. Our belief in Him gives us hope, even when we are surrounded by darkness. The light of his presence
fills our hearts with his love and compels us to share that love with others.
Whenever we share the love of the Lord, we offer hope to others. This hope can
lead them, also, to faith in Jesus, faith in the one Savior of all. It will, we pray, lead them one day into the fold
of his Church.
So, as we turn to the Lord and implore Him: “Mercifully hear the pleading of
your people and bestow your peace on our times,” I hope that all who claim the
name of Christian and every person of good will, will pray, especially at this time,
for the conversion of hearts and minds, praying that this Culture of Death will
give way to the Culture of Life, so that every person who is conceived will be
able to “sing to the Lord a new song” and “bless his name.”
In this coming week, the sad anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, I invite you to join in prayer with many Catholic and others who respect life from the womb to the tomb, to pray that laws and hearts may be changed. Please join Bishop Barbarito and me this coming Tuesday, January 22nd, at 11:00 a.m., for an hour of prayer across from the Palm Beach County Court House on Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. There we will implore Our Lord to help us save the unborn whose lives are threatened by abortion.