respect life My message to diocesan pro-life directors given in July at the annual Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Charleston, SC, may help in preparing for October's Respect Life Calendar month.

Keynote at Pro-Life Leadership Conference

Charleston, South Carolina

July 28, 2014

Information technology is a pleasure to exist with you. Let me brainstorm by maxim how grateful I am to be in Charleston, Southward Carolina. I visited recently for the funeral of Bishop David B. Thompson who lived to be 90 years former and was Bishop Emeritus. I will visit his grave on this trip and perhaps some of yous will accept a chance to see it before or after Mass this evening. Bishop Thompson and I were both from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and nosotros were very, very expert friends. I have the greatest admiration for this wonderful diocese.

I too want to extend a special thanks to Tom Grenchik and to all of the staff of USCCB for your leadership and wonderful piece of work. When Tom invited me to present this keynote, I asked him: "I know I was only elected president of the bishops' conference, of form, but why did you ask me to requite the keynote talk today?" Tom said, "Well, to be honest with y'all, Archbishop, you have the reputation of being a very warm speaker." I said, "Tom, thank you. That was very good." I hung up the telephone and I got out my dictionary, and I looked up the discussion warm. It said: "Warm – not and then hot." And so I called Tom back and said, "Tom, I want you to know that I take a dictionary at abode, only I'll withal requite the talk." He said, "Archbishop, seriously, we all consider you really to be a model preacher." I thought, well, that was awfully nice, so I hung up the phone and got out my lexicon, and it said, "model – pocket-size false of the real thing." I refrained from calling him again.

It is good to be with you and to present this keynote address. I would like to begin by affirming the importance of your apostolate, the ministry of respect for life. Our Holy Male parent, Pope Francis, has said very beautifully that the human person is the masterpiece of God'due south creation, and nosotros are all privileged to be in this wonderful apostolate.

I would like to tell you some other story. I come up from Louisville, Kentucky, and we have a petty horse race there every yr. I get to the Kentucky Derby each twelvemonth (as I say religiously), and I go in my collar. Two years ago, I encountered a gentleman on the elevator. He looked at my collar and said, "Male parent, are priests immune to bet?" I answered by saying that I think nosotros are allowed to bet, only we were not allowed to win. He chop-chop retorted, "You know, I believe I may have a vocation."

Though we shouldn't utilize the language of "vocation" or calling from God besides loosely, his response got me thinking that each of us, in our function, has a vocation. It's a calling from God, and in some ways information technology'southward a sacred trust. Information technology is not as well far afield to say that if you and I don't act on behalf of life, maybe no ane else will be acting. So I promise that this is an enjoyable presentation, but I speak with slap-up seriousness when I speak about our call from God to announce and speak for the souvenir of man life.

I've chosen every bit the theme: "The Four Cs of What It Ways to exist Pro-Life." I've been reflecting on these for a number of years now. They are very unproblematic. I will talk almost courage, nigh pity, almost civility, and nigh calm.

Showtime, I volition speak of courage. Y'all know we live, every bit Pope Francis reminds us, in a "throw away" culture. It is a very secular culture and in the midst of it, we really need to stand upwardly for the gift of human life – the souvenir of life. Continuing upwardly is a confidence that is not only good for our church building merely also expert for America. It is good for the fabric of our nation whether someone is Catholic or not and whether they are religious or non. The gift of life is at the very material of what it means to exist a culture and a culture of love. You and I are doing this because the civilisation of life and a culture of love is a gift that everyone deserves to take.

I was ordained a priest in 1972, and it was in January of 1973 that I wrote my start letter of the alphabet to the editor. You can probably guess what it was virtually: Roe v. Wade had just been issued by the Supreme Court, and that letter was actually the first public action that I can call back taking, non just on behalf of life but on behalf of anything. When was the beginning public action that y'all took?

Think of the courage of Jesus. It is very complex as Jesus displays this quality in so many means and in and so many different situations. Jesus teaches in chapters v, vi, and 7 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew ("The Sermon on the Mount") very strongly as he introduces each educational activity with "…but I say to you." Jesus is non shy well-nigh courageously speaking virtually what is right and what is wrong. It was Jesus who cleansed the Temple by speaking and acting very publicly. Information technology also was Jesus who remained silent as he faced Pilate, and and so the backbone and the public nature of the life of Jesus is complex. Then it is with yous and me as nosotros seek to be people of backbone – it is circuitous, isn't it? Information technology tin't e'er be the aforementioned action in every situation for each i of us, but I would like to suggest to you that the public activity we take is primarily a public gesture that people sympathize.

Pope Francis has captured the earth by storm in many means. He has washed so primarily considering he's a master at gestures; of being able to practise something very sincerely that captures the imagination of people. I'd like to propose two public gestures that I've been involved with in the hope that yous might uncover in your own life the public gestures of backbone that y'all might consider.

The offset is my interest with the Helpers of God'south Precious Infants. I came to know Helpers in 1997. I became a pastor of a parish back in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Information technology is a parish that was most an abortion clinic, and we began this public activeness with the advice of two lay people who came to me and said, "Begetter, would yous exist willing to have your parish be the center for the Helpers of God's Precious Infants?" I said, "Tell me more than nearly it." I immediately became a believer. In fact, Msgr. Reily, the founder of Helpers, came to Bethlehem in early 1997. Soon, we were off and running.

The Helpers were already in Louisville when I arrived, simply we decided to move the monthly Mass to the Cathedral. Twice a yr, I join the Helpers and accept that opportunity of being part of this public and prayerful pro-life gesture. For those who may not exist familiar, the approach of the Helpers of God'south Precious Infants is to begin with Mass and then to process, as nosotros pray the Rosary publicly, to the abortion clinic. (We accept Eucharistic Adoration at the church building for those who cannot take office in the procession.) The procedure ends with Benediction.

In 2008 I had the privilege of actually representing the pro-life customs in Munich, Germany because they were looking to begin a chapter of Helpers of God Precious Infants in Munich. I still take a cross that I brought dorsum from that event. That small-scale action (ofttimes a silent prayerful action) is a public declaration that life is worth continuing up for. Every one of us needs to find the courage to have some public proclamation.

Another gesture involves a booklet called, The Gift of Joy. (I brought some copies equally a souvenir from me to you.) This book is nigh the gesture called the blessing of the kid in the womb. Where did this come from? Well, in 2008 the Pro-Life Commission of the Bishops' Conference requested that the Us Bishops endorse a blessing of the child in the womb. This was approved unanimously and went to Rome. Information technology ended up being canonical past the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, and it was on the feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec 8, 2011) that it became function of the official Book of Blessings within the Usa.

In 2012, I had the occasion to be a consul at the Synod on the New Evangelization in Rome and chose as the topic of my intervention – all delegates received five minutes to give some intervention at the synod – the approval of the child in the womb for a number of reasons. First, considering we demand some public affidavit and expression that a child is a gift, not a possession, and that a kid is a gift from God who should be loved and valued. 2nd, nosotros discovered that there are a number of young families, and even single parents, having children who are not turning to the church for Baptism, peradventure out of embarrassment, laziness, or fear that they are going to be asked to do things they practice not want to do. And so, the blessing of the kid in the womb is a starting time pace. It is a chance for the church to say that your child is important to us. Ideally, we volition have the blessing of the child in the womb in every parish in the United states of America and across.

Please take this copy of the booklet, The Gift of Joy. Written past the Associate General Secretary of the USCCB, Msgr. Brian Bransfield, and me, the booklet explains the blessing. Information technology doesn't actually requite the text of the blessing (except the cadre function), but the blessing is accessible on the USCCB website, and it is an opportunity for you lot to be part of what I recollect is a very positive gesture. By the way, prior to the Synod on Evangelization, I had nearly vi different listening sessions or focus groups within the Archdiocese of Louisville, and in each i I brought up the issue of the blessing of child in the womb. The response was 1 of tremendous openness and appreciation. So, I think you'll observe as you work with people in your parishes or in the archdioceses or dioceses in which you serve that there is going to be a cracking openness to making this blessing function of the fabric of your parishes. These examples testify how the gift of courage tin exist carried out in many, many means.

2d, I would like to reflect on the gift of compassion, which is a delivery of the heart. There is a story told about a young male child in Mobile, Alabama. He was only half dozen or vii years old, and he was walking on the pavement without whatsoever shoes. That'south usually not an exceptional thing in Mobile, Alabama, except that during this particular fourth dimension in that location was a common cold spell. He walked by a store – one of these variety stores that serves everybody and everything. It was run past a woman, a very fine woman, who similar clockwork opened the door of the store at 8:00 a.m. and closed information technology at 5:00 p.grand. When she opened the store one morning, the little male child was walking by, and she saw that he had no shoes and that he was very cold and so she invited him in. She said, "Son, come up on in. I desire to give you a pair of shoes." He said, "Ma'am, well give thanks y'all, simply I don't have whatsoever money." "No, no," she said, "I'll give them to yous."

So he came into the store, and she fitted him up with a pair of shoes, and he looked up at her and said, "Are you God'south wife?" She laughed the aforementioned way that you lot but did, and she said, "No, son; I'm non God'south married woman, but I am a child of God." He looked support at her and said, "I just knew you lot were related!"

Compassion is touching the center. We can't be in the pro-life apostolate without our hearts being touched and softened. I had the privilege of having an older blood brother named Georgie who had Down's syndrome. My brother, Georgie and I grew up together. He was five years older than me. When our female parent died in 1989, I had the privilege of becoming legal guardian for Georgie. At present, he was my older blood brother, and he reminded me – and anyone else who asked – about that every 24-hour interval. For 12 years – George died in January 2002 – we had the privilege of living together in two dissimilar rectories and ane bishop's house. What a nifty, corking gift my brother was when he first moved into the parish where I was a pastor. People would say when I was going on vacation, "Well, Father, nosotros are going to miss yous." But they always added, "We are really going to miss Georgie." At that place was that soft, family unit dimension – that sense of compassion that recognizes what really is important in life – that needs to be part of every attempt in the pro-life apostolate.

I am in the process of reading a book by Brandon Vogt entitled Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World. Information technology is a beautifully written handling of the various saints who have been part of the work of social justice. He tells one story that I have never heard virtually Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

It was early in her time in her new apostolate, which she called it a vocation inside a vocation. She saw an elderly human being, and she wanted to enter that man'southward house so that she could make clean his firm. He was very reluctant to permit her come into his house. Finally she convinced him that it would be a practiced matter to put some order into his house. When she went in, she discovered a beautiful lamp and said, "Why don't yous ever calorie-free your lamp?" He said, "Because there's nix to meet. There's no one here to see with me." She said, "I will be here. Nosotros will light your lamp." So the story is that every week one of her sisters would come and help make clean his business firm, and in the process, they would, of course, light that lamp. A number of years went by, and Mother Teresa had not been there for a while, but ane of the other sisters was there when this man said, "Tell my friend that the light that she lit in my life all the same continues to shine."

I also was moved past one little verse that talked about Pope Francis. Information technology is entitled "It is Good that You Exist." Pope Francis said in 2013 that even in the midst of major problems, such as violence and drugs, the greatest travesty is the problem of people being marginalized. Information technology is as if you and I say to certain people, "Nosotros don't desire you to be." The pro-life movement is saying this: It is good that yous exist. It is practiced that you exist. That is the commitment of compassion.

Some people desire to make a imitation choice. When I was in Knoxville, Tennessee, nosotros began a pregnancy back up center, and one of the first directors, thinking that she was saying the right matter, said to a group when I was in that location, "At present there are some people who want to protest against abortions, simply this service is not for them. You're the volunteers who are doing work to reach out." I raised my hand, and I said, "I think you merely butterfingers me from volunteering." We don't want to promote the imitation choice as nosotros reach out to be compassionate as if only the non-courageous are eligible to exist compassionate. We need to exist empathetic and courageous.

I of the things happening inside the United States Briefing of Catholic Bishops, and it is happening in many dioceses, is that we are striving not to alive in silos where every person exists in his or her own little turf, and nobody talks to one another. Information technology is a skillful affair that we are seeking to interact and cooperate with other groups, and we are doing that very well. I encounter Ed Harpring here from Louisville, and I think we're making some very good progress doing that. There is, however, a caution. Nosotros don't desire to go so vanilla or banal that we lose our passion for what's important. We know that everybody is not going to exist passionate near everything. We need to make certain that as we piece of work with one another across various programs and beyond various departments within our dioceses, nosotros practise not lose the zeal and passion that nosotros have for what is of import. Nosotros demand that passion.

3rd, we need to be civil. I hateful civil in the sense of being polite, but non ceremonious in the sense of beingness distant. Existence civil to someone means that we recognize that the person with whom we're talking (whether that person is a friend or someone who's espousing things that make him or her sound like an enemy) is a kid of God. Compassion and civility means that we treat that person with great respect. Nosotros don't shout. We find ways to reach out in a manner that would be plumbing equipment of a follower of Jesus Christ.

Civility also ways listening to those who oppose us for two very of import reasons: First, because we might learn something from them that we're missing and 2d, and very importantly, we may acquire why our message is not existence heard well. The work of the new evangelization is not simply what is being proclaimed. It is also near what is being heard. And then, we listen fifty-fifty to our enemies, because we want to know in what way is our bulletin being heard. As we listen, civility, of form, offers us the opportunity to be able to treat each person with corking respect and dignity.

Finally, I advise the gift of at-home, which is synonymous with serenity. One of the biggest enemies I find in the pro-life movement is what I would call the "Blame Game." The "Blame Game" works like this. How come no one else is helping me? How come up I have to do all the work? The "Arraign Game" can exist devastating. Then the gift of calm or serenity is a gift that our Holy Father Pope Francis has talked about in Evangelii Gaudium. Do you recollect the first judgement of Evangelii Gaudium? "The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who run across Jesus." The gift of calm comes from the person who prays – who seeks to see others and other things with the eyes of Jesus.

I experience that calm in my Holy Hours in the morning, and sometimes my Holy Hours are actually a holy 15 minutes. In the midst of the calm of trying to let the Lord speak to me, I sometimes discover, particularly with any problems are going on within our Archdiocese, what gift God really has given to me to serve others. Merely I as well observe the gifts that other people with whom I am working bring. In 1988 I went to a parish as pastor for the starting time fourth dimension. I began to take to my Holy Hr the pictorial directory of the parish. I must acknowledge I did that partly considering I thought that in the midst of my prayers, I would be able to larn some names of the parishioners that I was serving. Very quickly, I began the do of praying for one page a day. In that process, I became amazed at how much I knew most those parishioners. I may have met them as they were coming in and out of Mass, or I may accept visited somebody in the infirmary. There are a multifariousness of ways that we run into the web of people we serve, but praying for one folio a 24-hour interval has given me the opportunity of calm to understand the presence of Jesus, not but in my own life, only in the lives of those with whom I serve and whom I serve.

In this process, we come to what ties all these Cs together – of pity, courage, civility, and at-home – and that is communion with 1 another in Jesus Christ. At the Holy Eucharist, you lot and I draw shut to Jesus, and the closer we come up to Jesus the closer nosotros come to one another. And so it is that you lot and I take a great privilege of being office of the apostolate that is pro-life.

I will leave yous with two quotes from Sacred Scripture that I often reflect during my Holy Hour. The first is what I would call the saddest verse in Sacred Scripture. It's in the Book of Revelation, chapter two, verse four. Do you recollect the verse? Revelation 2:iv: "I hold this against you. Yous have less love than you lot used to." "I agree this against yous," the author said. "Y'all take less honey than you used to." This briefing is about returning to that original love and that original zeal that draws united states of america to the apostolate. The final poesy is the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy i:6: "Stir into flame the gift of God that you have received." "Stir into flame the gift of God that you have received."

Thank you lot for beingness such keen ministers of the pro-life apostolate. God bless you!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email