Respect Life Month

10-11-2020Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Peace and Joy in Our Lord Jesus!

We are inspired when we read about the lives of the Saints who have made real sacrifices and have expressed true love. Their witness reminds us that life is sacred and their way of living and loving has impacted our world in many positive ways. Saints inspire holy marriages, build and support strong families, and bring many lost souls to the Catholic Church. During this Respect Life month, we can look to the Saints to help us to see every person as God sees him or her. Saints inspire us to never shy away from a human being who is sick, or dirty, or ignorant, or mentally ill.

Of course, respecting life is a large umbrella. There are countless things one can do to improve the lives of others. Along with prayer, I challenge you to do the things mentioned in the St. Bernadette October Respect Life Calendar found on our website. Some ideas include: pray at an abortion clinic, financially support our parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society, visit an elderly person, pray for the imprisoned, or join our Culture of Life Committee. This is a short list of ideas that I am sure you can add to. In the end, our faith is calling us to do something!

Our Lord is the answer. His response to all the selfishness and hatred in our world can be found on the cross. He showed us how to love and how to see others as God sees them. Love always involves sacrifice. For example:

• couples who’ve been married for decades know both the high personal cost and the great rewards of a lifetime of putting the needs of spouse and children ahead of their own
• the teen mother who makes an adoption plan finds it painful to separate from the child she’s grown to love, but knows that placing her baby with married parents will provide the security and stability she can’t give her baby
• heroic love is shown by parents and spouses of returning soldiers who have lost their sight or limbs and, sometimes, even their will to overcome the immense challenges
• the children who faithfully visit their dad in a nursing home even though he no longer recognizes them

Respect Life Month reminds us to open ourselves to God especially in times of suffering. Our Lord can use suffering to get our attention, to stretch our hearts, to conform us to His sacrificial love and to show us He is always near us in difficult time s. “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world” (C.S. Lewis).

For more information please visit www.respectlife.org/celebrate.