Homily Twenty-Seventh Sunday of the Year 7 October 2007

Autumn is a special time of year…
a beautiful season in the cycle of creation’s splendor…
when the forests are blanketed with a palate of vibrant colors…
and when the changing leaves and falling temperatures
foretell the inevitable death of Summer’s light and warmth
and the coming darkness and chill of Winter.

The signs in the world around us…
the decaying leaves…cooling air…and darkening skies…
keep our mortality before our minds.

“The dying of the daylight foretells creation’s end.”

[PAUSE]
In the world around us, there are other signs which speak to us of sad themes…
of a darkening cultural landscape, of decaying morals,
and of the sorrow that is felt when life is not treasured.
We need to read and ponder these signs of our times…

One such example is found in a story on the front page of last week’s
National Catholic Register.
As the story goes…
a young wife and mother in Italy had chosen to have a “selective abortion”
of one of the twins she was carrying…
because doctors discovered that the child had Down Syndrome.

When the woman went to a Milan hospital for this “procedure,”
the doctor mistakenly took the life of the “wrong” baby…the healthy one.
When the mother was later told what had happened…
she returned to have the other child aborted as well.

The Register reports an interview the mother had with an Italian newspaper,
in which she describes that…because of this sad chapter…
her life has been “ruined.”

She says, “Neither my husband nor I can sleep at night.”

The tragedy of this poor family’s story…
is that someone… a doctor…the media…politicians…???
someone is responsible for having lied to this young mother…
and telling her that her handicapped child is not worth bringing to life.

Now this terrible decision…
made by a mother who has been raised and formed in a culture
that presumes to know better than God about life and death…
has resulted in four casualties:
two dead children, and two ruined lives.

[PAUSE]
In our world today, very few have the courage to tell women the truth…
to love them in the difficult moments of pregnancy.

Our society tells people that abortion is the easy way out.
The countless mothers and fathers
who suffer profound scars after their children are taken from them
know that it is anything but easy.

The signs of the times declare to us loudly and clearly…
that human life is not cherished and respected as sacred…
and that the world is in decay as a result.

Doctors who take an oath to “do no harm” are helping the elderly end their lives
and calling it mercy.
Children who are considered imperfect are selected for abortion.
In China, the population of girls is regulated and female babies are killed.
Our death rows and execution chambers are used unnecessarily.

[PAUSE]
Sadly, we are growing accustomed to a world in which human life is not cherished.
The stories of violence and death cry out to us and no one listens nor intervenes.

On this “Respect Life Sunday”… the first Sunday of October…
a month dedicated to restoring respect for the sanctity of human life…
the Church calls each and every one of us…
here and now…in this place…
to stand together and declare that we are people who love life!

We are called by Christ to cherish life in all stages of human development…
from natural conception in God’s time…
to a natural death according to His plan.

We are also called to be clear and reasonable and to make distinctions.
We do not equate a war which may or may not be unjust…
with abortion which is always unjust.

We are called to witness to our belief in the dignity of human life…
I encourage you to join us as in our Eucharistic Procession next Sunday…

We stand for life…and we stand boldly…for we stand with Jesus Christ.
We pray…and we pray constantly…for in God alone shall the truth be victorious.
We have hope…and we have faith enough to move mountains…
for Christ has trampled death by His own death and will again restore life.

We are not ashamed to give testimony to our Lord…
and to the truth of the unique value and dignity and right to life
of every human person.

We are not ashamed because we have come to know Christ and in Him we trust.
May that same Jesus Christ be forever praised!