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 you…our 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
