Respect Life -- we become our best selves in loving and sharing and giving with each other.

 

Twenty Seventh Sunday in OT  B  2021

 

On this first weekend of the month of October, we are celebrating respect life weekend.  We are celebrating the dignity of every person God has created.  We are all made in the image and likeness of God.  From the first moment of conception till the day we are placed in the grave, each person’s life is to be respected and is very much deserving of our love.

In the first scripture reading from the Book of Genesis, the Lord God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone.”  God has created us for relationship.  The need for companionship is basic and God-given in each of us.  We become our best selves in loving and sharing and giving with each another.  We are made for each other.  God created us to share life and life in all its abundance.

Simply put, no person was made to be an island, in isolation from community.  Through God’s eyes, humanity is complete in partnership and in love.  We are better together.

In a session with some faith-filled children,  I asked them why they thought God said:  “It is not good for man to be alone.”  They responded so beautifully and honestly:  One said: “We need friends”….another “I love my mom and dad and brothers and sisters”….Another said:  “It would be so boring.”  Another said:  “Jesus wants us to love one another.” 

Even at a young age, maybe especially at their age, children know they are safe and very much loved in their family.  They know they are their best selves when they are kind, when they have friends, and when they love others.

The need for partnership and companionship and love is best expressed most beautifully in the marriage vows:  “I, John, take you, Mary, to be my wife.  I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.  I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

Marriage is part of God’s loving plan of salvation.

Jesus, the great teacher, goes back to God’s original plan of creation.  God has created us to be in relationship.  When the examiners of Jesus brought up the question of divorce, Jesus turned it into a discussion of the dignity of each person and the fact that human beings are made for loving one another as truly as we are made to love God.

In his interchange with the Pharisees, Jesus went far beyond the question of divorce to teach about the meaning of human relationship in general.   Jesus went beyond the legality of the law.  He called people to discern God’s will as that which promotes life-giving relationships in each and every situation.

Marriage is a school of love and forgiveness.  When two people get married they bring with them to their marriage normal human weaknesses and discover weakness in the other which previously they did not know.    In the sacrament of marriage, it is not just two people coming together in love; the sacrament of marriage unites the couple with Jesus and brings them God’s blessing.

The faithfulness of God to this couple is lived out in the sacrament of marriage.  God is always faithful to us his people.  God is always faithful to the Church.

 

Our respect life theme fits very well with our commitment to the Catholic Ministries Appeal  (CMA).  The Gospel imperative for us clearly is the need to go beyond the boundaries of our parish in witnessing to the dignity and beauty of all human life.  We are to move our comfort and reach out in sharing our resources with people in need thought our 12 county diocese.

 

Our parish goal is $89,950.  This is a bit of a stretch for us but certainly it is not an unreasonable goal.  None of us get a  free pass in our to share what we have with those in need.  Our goal is high because we have been blessed by our loving, giving God with many blessings.  May we support the CMA, not  begrudgingly, but willingly with generous hearts.  For God loves a cheerful given.

 

Respect life is part of our parish’s DNA.  As such, we are called to support the dignity of human life with people in need throughout our diocese.  Personally, I will give generously to the CMA , and I will increase my giving over last year.  I would ask you to do the same if you are able.

 

Be assured that every cent of our CMA giving is used to support the needed and worthwhile ministries of our diocese.  You can be assured that you will never regret being generous with people in need.

 

In the second Scripture reading, the sacred writer says that Jesus was made perfect through suffering.  For us too, our relationship with Jesus is deepened through the sufferings we experience.  The cross, suffering in our life is part of our sharing in the paschal mystery of the Lord.  We are to die to ourselves so that we may live more fully in the life of Christ. 

As we celebrate respect life this weekend, may we respect the life and the dignity of all those who have experienced  pain and suffering.  The beauty of our respect life theme is that people most in need – for those who are divorced and those who have experienced brokenness in relationship – are people whom the Lord welcomes and forgives and desires them to be reconciled to the God who desires reconciliation with one and all.

May we be a faith community that is deeply committed to respecting all human life, and may this commitment lead us to support our annual diocesan CMA that enhances the human dignity of all the people in our diocese.

 

May God give you peace and a spirit of generosity.