Deacon Larry

 

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Is 8: 23- 9: 3; 1 Cor 1: 10-13, 17; Mt 4: 12-23

Dc. Larry Brockman

A year or two ago, some of our public figures, who call themselves Catholic, made public statements about abortion.  I recall one person in particular who quoted St. Thomas Aquinas out of context in order to defend the pro-choice position on abortion.  Their comment received all kinds of attention in the press.  Their comment did significant damage to the unity of the Body of Christ.  How so? Well, first, using their authority as a public figure, this person attempted to make a blatantly incorrect position on Church teaching sound legitimate;  second, this person gave the secular media a wedge to use in undermining our Church’s doctrine on abortion; and third, this person offered false shelter to others who don’t like the official teaching of the Church, especially Catholics.  I remember feeling a quake in the unity of the body of Christ. 

Such behavior for a public figure should not be taken lightly.  Perhaps that’s why Church Law, or Canon Law, has a provision in it that persons in the public eye who publicly take a position against an important Church Doctrine, like Abortion, are excommunicated from the Church.  In an effort to contain the damage, the Church did not escalate the matter.  Yet. this example demonstrates all too clearly that things have not changed since Paul wrote to the Corinthians,  Because today, the Body of Christ is still plagued by divisions, and these divisions do harm to the Body of Christ. 

This morning, we find ourselves at the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision of January 22, 1972 legalizing Abortion in this country.  Father Ennis has asked that we talk about Respect Life issues this morning at all the Masses.  In accordance with St. Paul’s teaching, it is essential that as a Church and as a Parish, we do everything that we can to show that we are united as Christians on this important issue.   

In the past couple of years, this Parish has given extraordinary support to the Respect Life Movement.  Our Baby Bottle campaigns, our Spiritual Adoption Campaigns, and our Post Card Campaign, have all demonstrated that you are a pro-life people.  Congratulations to all of you for your support.  And I am confident that the ongoing Baby Bottle and Spiritual Adoption campaigns will also be successful this year, and that you will support the KOC Spaghetti Dinners to be held on the last Friday of each Month outside of Lent for JMJ Center.     

So, that said, what is missing?  What more can we do to unify the Body of Christ on Respect Life Issues?  Besides prayer, I think there are three important things we can all do.  First, we need to be educated in pro-life matters.  This year, our Respect Life Conference will be held on Saturday February 26th.  We will focus on end-of life issues, not on abortion.  A doctor, a lawyer, and a priest will provide expertise that all of us should find valuable.  They will serve as a panel that will present and discuss Christian ethics on end of life matters; and they will give Catholic advice on the details of Living Wills, Do Not Resuscitate Orders, and other such documents.  All of us need to know about end of life issues and what our Church teaches.  Why? First, because we need to know what to do when we are confronted with them as part of public policy.  For example, some of these issues may become sensitive politically because of provisions in the New Health Care Bill.  So, we need to be informed on them as voters.  And you know, it doesn’t matter what your age is, God could call you at any time- a stroke, an aneurysm, a car accident- and you could be in a position where you should have had a Living Will.  And for those of us who are getting up in years, or have a parent getting up in years, these end-of-life issues are quite timely right now.  And so, I urge all of you to come to the conference to find out what our Church teaches.   

We are also going to be hearing about “Human Trafficking”- another Respect Life issue- in the next couple of weeks.  The Diocese is involved in a major push to educate us about recognizing when Human Trafficking is occurring.  Human trafficking occurs when people are effectively coerced into prostitution or farm work or domestic service or some other activity against their will.  It happens all around us, only we don’t always recognize it.  The Church is hoping that if you and I are properly educated on recognizing signs of Human trafficking, then we will notify the right people so that something can be done about it.  Education is a responsibility that all of us adults have in these matters.  A knowledgeable parish can demonstrate their convictions with action.     

That brings me to the second thing we can all do.  Our Parish and our Diocese need to show our Right to Life stance publicly, not just within our walls or with our wallets.  Taking a public stance makes it clear that we believe and support the Church’s position because we are being proactive, not passive.  I encourage you to get involved in some way in a Respect Life Project in order to do that.  For example, JMJ Center is looking for an executive Director; and some folks make weekly visits to picket Abortion Clinics.  But you can do it in small ways too, you know.  For example, every year we have a “Life Chain” out in front of the Church along the sidewalk.  Parishioners are asked to hold pro-life signs for just an hour on a Sunday Afternoon.  Typically, we have 100 people, many of whom are youth trying to get service points.  Just 100 people out of a parish of 6,000 families.  What a public statement it would be if we had 500 or 1000 of you lined up for a mile or so along Apopka Vineland.  Surely, some of you can do that.  And then there are the water cooler discussions and other opportunities we all have when we are in public- a chance to make a difference, speaking up instead of remaining silent.   

The third thing we can do is to vote our position.  Now I know that there are some people out there that will talk about separation of Church and State.  But like it or not, there is a strong link between Government and controlling immoral and illegal behavior.  We elect people to government positions at all levels so that we will be protected from those who do evil things.  That’s why we have police and civil law and standards of behavior.  Make no mistake about it- 55 million aborted people since 1972 is evil.  Yet some folks seem to have lost their grip on what wrong behavior is.  Even though the vast majority of doctors and scientists all acknowledge that human life begins at conception, a large part of our secular society, under the guise of tolerance, preaches that termination of a human life in the womb, is a matter of choice for the pregnant woman.  What about the Father; and what about the fact that terminating that life is murder? 

Tolerance and passive acceptance of this position is leading to an erosion of our other values.  And so, we find assisted suicide and gay marriage gaining acceptance as well.  The Florida Catholic Bishops statement on this Anniversary of Roe vs Wade that is published in today’s bulletin specifically raises concern over these other two issues.  And we will need to be concerned about Euthanasia next, because in today’s economic crunch secular society may not want to pay the cost of keeping older folks alive.   

The fact is that this largely Christian nation needs to be awakened, and stand up and be counted.  We need to unite as the Body of Christ.  We do that by making sure our elected officials reflect and practice Christian values, and the most important of these values is respect for life.  It is our responsibility as clergy to make that very clear to our parishoners. 

Let us all recognize this one essential fact about our Church.  Today, as in the day of Paul, our Church’s mission is to Baptize us as Christians and to preach the Gospel.  The Church does this, and I quote “Not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of it’s meaning”.  Rather, the Church teaches the Wisdom of God.  God is responsible for all life; it is his decision.  And so, as Christians, we are challenged to hold the Body of Christ together in unity.  And we do that by choosing those who choose life.