EMBRACING FAMILY
October is Respect Life Month.
Some Catholics say, “I am pro-life!? We’ve even participated in the 40 Days for Life campaign. We pray the rosary as a family, too!”
Protecting life from the moment of conception is a particularly important aspect of respecting life. However, we cannot stop there. What about life after birth?
When looking at respecting life, we need to broaden our perspective. Being pro-life, we want these children to have the chance to be born and live. But how will they thrive?
The child will need a loving and nurturing environment. What if the parents cannot provide this? We need to support foster care and adoption. Approximately one-fourth of the children in foster care are waiting — often for years — to be adopted according to iFoster. While it is irreplaceable to help bring a child into this world, it is equally as important to ensure that they will have a loving and caring upbringing, as well.
“Maybe I need to pray about this more, support local foster families, or consider becoming one.”
Respecting life should last a lifetime. We are called by God to see him present in each person — not simply in family and friends, but in the houseless, the poor, the abandoned, the abused, the immigrant, the imprisoned, the disabled. “Our defense of the innocent unborn … needs to be clear, firm and passionate. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned.” (Pope Francis)
“We donate to Catholic Charities and other good causes. That’s helping the poor, right?”
Yes, it is, but we must also teach our children to see the needs of others in our community and respond. What do we do when we walk by someone who is houseless, living on the streets? Do we simply walk across the street to the other side? If they approach our car window, do we look the other way? Our response, even if we do not utter a word, teaches our children. Of course, we need to ensure our safety and that of our children, but we cannot use that as an excuse to justify our lack of intervention.
“Sadly, there is widespread indifference to such suffering … Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded” (Pope Francis).
“Looks like I could work on expanding my family bubble with the comforts that money can bring and where we might only be seeing our family, our friends, our parish. I can teach my children how to look around and truly encounter all of God’s people.”
Luke 6:32-36 challenges us as Christians to not simply love those who love us or do good to those who do good to us, but to love our enemies and expect nothing in return. This is what it means to RESPECT LIFE – all life, from the womb to the tomb. “The Gospel tells us to constantly run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction.” (Evangelii Gaudium 88)
So, Hawaii Catholic Herald readers, what will we do after reading this article?
While we may recycle this newspaper, we cannot disregard God’s voice speaking to us, challenging us, inviting us. “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’” (Matthew 25:44-45)
Together with family and friends, let us leave the comfort of our homes. Go out. Look and listen. Help.
Respect ALL Life.
God is waiting — for YOU, for US.
We’d love to hear from you, Hawaii Catholic Herald readers. Write to us, Sarah and David, at Success@EmbraceFamilyLearning.com and we would be honored to lift you up in prayer and respond, as well! If desired, you may remain anonymous.
