Today is January 22. 2016 and that means the March for Life is going on in Washington, DC today. \u00a0In recognition of our call to prayer and action, we celebrated a Vigil Mass for Life last night. \u00a0Below\u00a0is the homily I offered.<\/p>\n
Peace,<\/p>\n
Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n
Mass for Life
\nIsaiah 9:1-6
\nPhilippians 4:6-9
\nLuke 1:39-45
\nJanuary 21, 2016<\/p>\n
It was just a little less than a month ago when we celebrated Christmas Day as the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, a son given to us, and a great light shining upon our world.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Jesus\u2019 birth is celebrated with great joy.\u00a0 We experience this joy for ourselves but we can also see the joy in others in story of Mary\u2019s Visitation to Elizabeth when John the Baptist leaped in his mother\u2019s womb as Mary approached with Jesus in her womb.<\/p>\n
Mary and Elizabeth were both filled with joy at the life within them.\u00a0 Every life should bring such joy but unfortunately it doesn\u2019t always.\u00a0 Pregnancy can bring concerns.<\/p>\n
In Mary\u2019s case, she could have felt anxiety wondering what people would think of her being unwed and pregnant.\u00a0 She could have felt she was too young both physically and in knowing how to be a mother.\u00a0 Instead of being anxious, Mary trusted in God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth was old and never had any children.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that she didn\u2019t want children.\u00a0 She did but it never happened.\u00a0 So it would be easy to assume she was thrilled to become pregnant and she was.\u00a0 Elizabeth could have said she was too old to be pregnant and to raise a child.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t.\u00a0 She trusted in God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n
Life is a gift but it isn\u2019t always seen that way.\u00a0 Pregnancy is not always seen as a good thing.\u00a0 Pregnancy can bring fear.\u00a0 For a young girl, it might be fear of what others will think, including her parents.\u00a0 The mother might fear being able to have a healthy birth.\u00a0 The parents might feel they don\u2019t have the financial means to raise a child.\u00a0 They might fear being able to be good parents.\u00a0 Unfortunately, fear can be a powerful thing.\u00a0 Fear and anxiety can bring darkness and the darkness brings gloom, despair, and bad choices.<\/p>\n
I want to take a moment to move from life in the womb to people at the end of life.\u00a0 When people are faced with end of life decisions a common term used today is \u201cquality of life.\u201d\u00a0 Some feel that when a person faces a terminal diagnosis, cannot do what they used to, and faces great suffering, it is okay to hasten death.<\/p>\n
For some, this is only true in the very final days but some think it should be an option for any terminally ill person.\u00a0 This is not what our faith teaches us.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to use \u201cextraordinary means\u201d to say alive but we must not hasten death either.<\/p>\n
Even at the end of life, the person is still, well a \u201cperson\u201d.\u00a0 We need to support them with love, not by hastening death but by showing we continue to care about them and want to be with them.\u00a0 There can come a time to stop aggressive treatment and switch to palliative care to help manage their pain and to be present to them (ex. Hospice).<\/p>\n
We shouldn\u2019t take this to mean that \u201cquality of life\u201d is not important.\u00a0 In fact, it is very important, not just at the end of life but throughout <\/em>a person\u2019s whole <\/em>life.<\/p>\n Tomorrow is the forty-third anniversary of the Supreme Court\u2019s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.\u00a0 We have among us tonight, people who were planning on riding two buses from Ithaca to the March for Life to joins hundreds of thousands of others who will march to stand up for life.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t all go but in coming here tonight we show that we too stand up for life and appreciate the gift.\u00a0 We pray for others to see life as a gift.<\/p>\n The buses are organized by the same group of people involved in the local Forty Days for Life efforts.\u00a0 These people gather at times to pray for all to choose life.<\/p>\n However, it is not <\/em>enough just to pray.\u00a0 I mentioned before how people can feel trapped in darkness at the news of a pregnancy.\u00a0 I also mentioned how we must be concerned with the quality of a person\u2019s life throughout <\/em>their whole <\/em>life.<\/p>\n We need to support people during pregnancy through pregnancy centers that support life.\u00a0 We need to make sure health care is available for the mother and child during pregnancy.\u00a0 We need to help them have food and a place to live so that the child can be born healthy.\u00a0 Offering these services can help bring light to these people.<\/p>\n However, it is not <\/em>enough just to help them during pregnancy.\u00a0 Parents facing a pregnancy can also fear being able to care for the child after <\/em>the child comes out from the mother\u2019s womb.\u00a0 They need diapers, food, and clothing just to name the most basic of items.\u00a0 Locally Birthright is among the groups that help with this.\u00a0 We support them with Carnation Sales on Mother\u2019s Day.\u00a0 Some people volunteer there and you can donate items any time.<\/p>\n This can bring even more light to the parents struggling with the very idea of pregnancy.\u00a0 It shows them that we care and love them.\u00a0 We pray that this in turn helps them to know God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n We celebrate this Mass tonight in the midst of our Jubilee Year of Mercy where we are especially called to do Corporal Works of Mercy (rooted in Matthew 25:31-46) of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick (including the dying) among others.\u00a0 We must do this Corporal Works of Mercy to be pro-life<\/em>.\u00a0 This can include the work of Catholic Charities as well as local food pantries including the one we host downstairs.<\/p>\n We must do Spiritual Works of Mercy to offer comfort for those in distress and to pray for the living and the dead.<\/p>\n In the spirit of Mercy, we must also let people know that when we have fallen short, God will always forgive us when we come to Him with a repentant heart.<\/p>\n Tonight we pray for life.\u00a0 May we always pray for life and do acts of mercy to support life in the womb, near the end, and at all stages in between.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is January 22. 2016 and that means the March for Life is going on in Washington, DC today. \u00a0In recognition of our call to prayer and action, we celebrated a Vigil Mass for Life last night. \u00a0Below\u00a0is the homily I offered. Peace, Fr. Jeff Mass for Life Isaiah 9:1-6 Philippians 4:6-9 Luke 1:39-45 January …<\/p>\n