Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Respect Life: 30th Sunday Ordinary Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

“Moved by Mercy” Respect Life Month (October)
Life
Each of us were born
·      Our life began with a man, a woman and God—period
·      Unborn we were the most vulnerable person
o   We (as well as our children) were/are defenseless as a
o   Even today we adults are fragile, imperfect
·      And the woman—our mother—is a miracle for our own lives
I love a quote from a comedian Jim Gaffigan
·      All women are amazing
·      Then he said that “a woman can grow a baby inside their body…a woman can deliver a baby through their body…and then by some miracle a woman can feed a baby with their body
·      He then joked that the man’s contribution of life is kind of embarrassing
o   Check that out later
Pro-life
·      Pro-life must be deeper than a slogan
o   We must serve families, couples (married or not married), women (married or unmarried), the poor or the rich
o   We must offer our time, talent and treasure to assist with love
·      We must pray for challenging times through parents
o   Let us pray for those who are trying to have a child
o   Let us pray for those who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth of a child
o   Let us pray for those who have the worst funerals for parents who lost their child
o   Please know of your support with Jesus Christ, your faith, your families and friends and yes, your Catholic family
o   And I am here to walk with you
Abortion
I would also like to speak about abortion
·      Our verses today: Sirach 35:13-14
o   “The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites.  Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.”
·      Today I would like to share “the weak…the cry of the oppressed”
Mercy
·      To those who have had a difficult decision to have an abortion
o   Know how much Jesus Christ loves you
o   Know of the ways to be welcomed into his arms
o   Listen to the Gospel in Luke
§  The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous…”
§  But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”
o   Know how much I love youour Catholic family loves you
o   Walk with you—emotionally, spiritually and physically through God
o   We are not here to condemn or judge you but
As Catholics we must walk the steady endurance of our Jesus’ church
·      Walk with Jesus Christ’s family
·      Our Catholic morality not just here, but on any other soil on our earth
·      Our history, our saints, our Pope, our Bishops
·      St. Mother Teresa (at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 3rd, 1994) said:
o   the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion
·      St. John Paul II called a “culture of life” vs. a “culture of death
§  (abortion, euthanasia, etc.)
·      Pope Francis: “It is necessary to reaffirm our solid opposition to any direct offense against life, especially when innocent and defenseless, and the unborn child in its mother's womb is the quintessence of innocence.”
·      Another great verse by God: Psalm 139:13
o   “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.”
Keep walking through October: Respect Life which is moved by mercy
·      Read some more from my bulletin article
·      Sirach 35:13-14 and Psalm 139:13


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