Besides being Respect Life Month, October is also designated as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States.
In respecting all life, our Catholic faith encourages us to treat all persons with love and dignity. Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote about this in his encyclical, The Gospel of Life, warning against violence against others. He also outlined the importance of the family as the primary community of life and love in which children are nurtured.
It doesn’t seem that long ago. On April 19, 2005, we heard the news that the cardinals had elected a new pope. Some of us had gathered around a television set at the Bishop O’Connor Center to watch the announcement. Who would it be, we wondered?
When I heard the name, “Joseph,” I knew the next pope would be Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Then I heard he took the name Benedict XVI.
Our new Holy Father came from behind the curtains. His smile absolutely lit up St. Peter’s Square. I couldn’t help but be impressed by this holy, gentle man who called himself “a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
Another season of high school, grade school, college, and professional sports has begun. These can invite us to reflect upon ways that we participate in sports as players or watch as spectators.
In Colossians 3:17, it says “Whatever we do in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God, the Father though him.”
When Pope John II became pope, he installed a swimming pool at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence. He responded to those who criticized its cost by saying that it was cheaper than paying for a new conclave. He also skied. Doctors think that he recovered from an assassin’s wounds quickly because of vibrant health nourished by sports. Through sports and exercise, he showed us ways to care for our bodies, which God created. If he is canonized, he could join St. Sebastian as patron saint of athletes.
