God is Pro Life (Part II of II)

01-24-2021Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Sadly, the unwillingness to offer real sacrifices and the lack of true love has led many people to believe that life is disposable. This tragic way of thinking has impacted our world in many negative ways i.e., marriages, families, workplaces, government, the economy, communities and even the Church.

It is so easy to become puffed up with pride and a false sense of self-reliance; many selfishly choose their own path; many seek to maximize personal pleasure and avoid giving of themselves in sacrificial love to others and therefore miss the beauty of God’s creation all together.

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 have 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 has 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 son who faithfully reaches out to his dad in a nursing home every day since his dad moved there for round-the-clock care, even though his father no longer recognizes him.

Respecting life 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 times. “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).