We all know the creation story in the opening chapters from the book of
Genesis, of how God created the universe as a fruit of his goodness and
creativity. We can imagine how God created the universe because he did not want to be alone,
just as God imagined that man would not want to be alone and how man needed a
partner. The birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth, though wonderful
creatures in themselves, did not provide an appropriate partnership, so God
created both man and woman. We can look at this creation story in Genesis from different viewpoints, which
is the richness of our Catholic faith and our Catholic traditions. Today, Sunday, October 4, our Church celebrates the feast of a saint who had a
deep love for all of God’s creation here on earth: St Francis of Assisi. Even though Francis was born in the late 12th century more than 800 years ago,
his teachings still speak to our modern world today and they still seem so
fresh and new. A friend sent me this book called Care of Creation, which is a
Franciscan spirituality of ecology and caring for the earth. The early Church rejected the philosophy of Gnosticism, which it later declared
to be a heresy. Gnosticism saw the material world as being inferior to the spirit world; it saw
a need for human beings to gain salvation from the material world. The Church, however, saw the world as intrinsically good as a part of God’s
creation. Francis of Assisi saw a unity between human beings and all of creation. He saw the sun and wind as his brothers, the moon and water as his
sisters. L. In recent years, as we’ve
become more aware of how human beings have had a destructive affect on the
environment, our Church has developed a spirituality of being stewards of God’s
creation in the tradition of St Francis. Pope Francis has been very outspoken on our need to care for the environment,
calling for a courageous and responsible effort to avert the most serious
effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human society. The Pope sees the fundamental basis of human dignity rooted in our obligation to
care for one another, the planet, and all diverse creatures here on earth,
which he pointed out to Congress in his recent address in Washington.
The story of creation in Genesis and the holistic view of creation in the
spirituality of St Francis of Assisi is a great foundation for Respect for Life
Month, which we kick off today, this first Sunday in October. Our theme for Respect for Life month this year is: “Every Life is Worth Living,
showing the broad view we have for the Respect for Life in our Catholic Faith. It encompasses many things, including our opposition to abortion, assisted
suicide, euthanasia, capital punishment, unjust war, genetic engineering,
hunger, poverty, and economic injustice. In recent year, issues like human trafficking, religious persecutions,
immigration, access to medical care, and religious freedom have come to our attention
in the realm of our Respect for Life. As we heard the Letter of James these past few weeks call us to be Doers of
God’s Word and not just hearers, as individuals and as a society, we are called
to words and actions in order to show our respect for all human life. The late Cardinal Joseph Bernadine of Chicago once said: "When human life is considered 'cheap'
or easily expendable in one area, eventually nothing is held as sacred and all
lives are in jeopardy.” That statement
shows the importance of us recognizing the different facets and aspects of our
respect of life in our Catholic Social Teachings. Each of our lives, and every life, is worth living, no matter what the
circumstances are. Period. We are called to respect and protect our lives and the lives of others, and we
are called to be the hands and feet of Christ to all, especially the most
vulnerable in society. Each of us has been given one life to live, which has inestimable value. It is up to each one of us to choose how to
live it.
I want to call your attention to some of the activities we will have during the
month of October at our parish. On the weekends during October, we will pray the rosary at the beginning of
mass, meditating on the mysteries of the rosary in the context of our Respect
for Life. Since the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated in October, and since
the last Marian apparition of Fatima took place in October, this month has
always been associated with our Blessed Mother. In addition, on Sunday, October 25 at 2:30 pm we will have our annual Respect
for Life Prayer Rally out near the Memorial to the Unborn in the front of our
church grounds. This is the third year in which we have had this annual prayer rally. We have invited other churches in our
community to join us this year. We hope
to have a really good showing from our parish.
I encourage all of you to join us in celebrating the Respect for Life this year
in all of fullness of its dimensions. But beyond that, I encourage all of you to examine your own consciences on how
well you respect life in the different ways in your daily life. During the month of October, the Church invites all of us to pray that our
society will become a culture of life –not just for our own sakes – but for the
future of our world.
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