Respect Life Month brings a chance to revive our efforts to support life at all stages, increase our prayers for the protection of those facing violence, and continue to grow in patience for one another.
Tag: Respect Life Month
Entering Respect Life month
With the full support of our Catholic president, the Catholic Speaker of the House, and scores of Catholic representatives, the Women’s Health Protection Act was passed in the House of Representatives last week.
We’re called to build civilization of love and life
We congratulate and rejoice with Deacons Timothy Mergen and Enan Zelinski, who were ordained last week in St. Peter’s Basilica and will be ordained priests here next June for the Diocese of Madison.
These men, so representative of all our seminarians, are prayerful, holy, committed, and zealous in living out the Gospel of Christ and shepherding His holy people. Our prayers and gratitude go to these inspiring servants of the Lord, as well as to their parents, families, and friends.
Babies are being saved by pro-life efforts
News from 40 Days for Life National revealed that less than a week into the vigil, which started on September 25, already 26 babies were known to be saved by the witness of pro-life volunteers.
In Madison, 40 Days for Life volunteers have seen many turn-aways (young women or couples who have left Planned Parenthood without going through with their appointment and have either gone across the street to the Women’s Care Center or just left the area).
This happened after volunteers were seen praying and peacefully witnessing for life and telling about the support and free services available at the Women’s Care Center near Planned Parenthood.
We can’t be neutral on end of life issues
We have been observing October as Respect Life Month, and our focus as Catholics has been on protecting life from “womb to tomb.”
But it seems as if we often put more emphasis on the beginning of life rather than on the end of it. We must be vigilant to make sure that our society respects all human life at every stage.
Increasingly, there have been efforts to promote physician-assisted suicide or what is now being called “medical aid in dying.”
It’s important to affirm life at the time of death
As we approach the end of October observed as Respect Life Month and All Souls’ Day on November 2, our thoughts turn towards the end of life.
I think our society today avoids issues of suffering and death. Some say we live in a “death-defying and death-denying” society.
Denying death
As Jeffery A. Johnson says in an article called “Denial: The American Way of Death” (www.OrthodoxyToday.org), modern Americans seems to be “preoccupied with the preservation of youth and beauty.” He says that “society seems content to cling to the illusion that youth — and life — can last forever.”
Respect life at every stage of development
In 1972, Respect Life Month was initiated by the American Catholic bishops. It is observed yearly during October in United States Catholic dioceses and stresses the value and dignity of human life.
Continue to oppose the death penalty
During October, which is observed as Respect Life Month in the U.S. Catholic Church, we publish a number of articles in the Catholic Herald about issues dealing with respect for life at all stages.
Perhaps one of the most difficult issues to discuss is the death penalty. If we admit it, I think many of us subscribe to the Old Testament belief in “an eye for an eye” when it comes to punishing those who harm others.
If someone murders another person, we may feel the death penalty is justified. After all, the murderer took someone’s life, so his life must be taken, too.
What’s wrong with this point of view? Quite a bit, if we start to look at it carefully.
Saving lives — one baby at a time
Pro-life individuals and organizations are working to change laws and public opinion, and they are making a difference in our state and across our nation.
Wisconsin experienced over a 10 percent decline in abortions in 2014, continuing a trend of fewer abortions during the past five years.
One way this has happened is that lives are being saved — one baby at a time — thanks to the commitment of pro-life pregnancy centers and volunteers.
End of life: Deserves as much attention as the beginning
As we conclude the month of October — designated as Respect Life Month — it seems appropriate to reflect on end-of-life issues.
Doesn’t it seem that our society today pays much more attention to the beginning of life than the end of it? We get excited about the birth of a baby. We have baby showers, spend time getting the nursery decorated, and send out birth announcements when the baby is born. We buy cards and gifts for the new child.