Mass for Helpers of God's Precious Infants
Saint John the Evangelist Church, Philadelphia
September 18, 1999
Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Saint John the Evangelist Church, Philadelphia
September 18, 1999
Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
A hearty early morning welcome to all of you here in this beautiful Church of Saint John the Evangelist. It is a special honor for me to celebrate this Mass with you, the Helpers of God's Precious Infants. I would like to extend my special gratitude to Mr. Gene Krueger for the kind invitation, and to you, the members of the Helpers, for your constant and fervent prayers and peaceful witness on behalf of the sanctity of all human life. And in a special way, I commend the priests who are present here this morning to join with me in leading all of us in prayer and witness for life. As a fellow priest, I know the sacrifices they are making to be here today, especially at this most busy time of year. And I know that God will bless them abundantly for their witness -- as He will all of you who are with us this morning.
For our celebration and what we will do later in front of a so-called clinic that fosters not life but death, the beginning phrase we heard this morning from the first letter of Timothy is prophetic: "Before God who gives life to all...." Indeed, this is the basic and inescapable truth, so basic, in fact, that it is even more fundamental than faith: And that is, that God is the Lord of life.
In light of this truth, we see ourselves as stewards, unworthy but exalted servants of a loving Father who has created us, of His loving Son Jesus Christ who has saved us, and of the Holy Spirit who has sanctifies us and calls us not to abuse or bury the gifts of life and faith and the numerous individual blessings we have received from our God, but to use them wisely. And a wise use of His gifts means that we place them at the service of others, particularly those most in need.
We can list a long litany of abuses against the gift of human life that are taking place in contemporary American culture:
* a militant advocacy of abortion, so much so that even a bill banning the most heinous practice of partial-birth abortion was twice vetoed by the current occupant of the White House;
* a growing push for approval of research on human embryos under the mistaken notion of "progress," that in reality will lead to harvesting babies in the womb solely for the "parts" they have that may or may not help us, all with the utilitarian design of destroying them via abortion after they serve that purpose;
* an ever-increasing call for the acceptance, even in light of the Holy Father's strong pleas against it, of capital punishment;
* an aggressive and insidious campaign to legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted
suicide;
* and finally, a proliferation of horrific violent acts breaking out, against
children and even by children, in different parts of this nation.
The list could go on and on.
In addition to abusing the gift of human life is the sin of burying that gift—by
failing to stand up for life in the face of the abuses that are occurring, especially to the unborn. It has been said that the opposite of love is not hate; rather, it is apathy, or doing absolutely nothing at all in the face of blatant evil. Quite possibly, the burying may be even worse than the abusing.
But in midst of the darkness that both these evils creates, you rise as a testament of light to exactly what respect for the sanctity of all human life truly means. By the double action of prayer and peaceful witness that you perform on behalf of our unborn children --and this double action you are performing right here this morning -- you show to our community and to the whole world how the message of the Lord Jesus can and must be lived in the marketplace of society.
And let us be clear about the critical importance of your prayerful witness to this message. As Pope John Paul II himself has written in his book, "Crossing the Threshold of Life" (p. 205): "Often the question (of abortion) is presented as a woman's right to free choice regarding the life already existing inside her, that she carries in her womb: the woman should have the right to choose between giving life or taking it away from the unborn child. Anyone can see that the alternative here is only apparent. It is not possible to speak of the right to choose when a clear moral evil is involved, when what is at stake is the commandment, Do not kill."
So your witness is most needed, especially today. Of course, we know that when we do such works as prayer and witness, we truly deserve no praise, for we are only doing what we must as good stewards of a loving God, especially for the most needy and defenseless of our citizens among us: our pre-born brothers and sisters. But I commend you nonetheless, because too many among us, even some of our own Catholics and others who profess a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord, are abusing or remaining mute in the face of such evil as the sin of abortion.
As such, you are taking seriously the call of the Holy Father as every Christian should to build a culture of life as we are about to enter upon a new millennium with the year 2000. You are the believers Saint Luke is speaking about in today's Gospel, when the evangelist tells us: "The seed on good ground are those who hear the word in a spirit of openness, retain it, and bear fruit through perseverance."
"Bearing fruit through perseverance." The only way that we, weak as we are, could ever begin to achieve such goodness as witnessing to the sanctity of all human life from conception to the moment of natural death, is through the power and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, as you are strengthened by God's holy Word and nourished by the Lord's holy Eucharist, you are empowered to remain steadfast in the midst of frustration, apparent lack of results, even opposition and apathy from those who are part of the human family.
I speak from the heart this morning when I tell you that you are truly an inspiration to me in the ministry to which God has called me. Unworthy as I am, the Lord has chosen me to shepherd His people. Your life and faith, your witness and prayer, become a source of blessing and conversion, not only for our unborn children, their mothers and fathers; not only for those who are participating in the heinous business of abortion; not only for our community at large; but also and especially for me.
It is for this reason that I am proud to join you this morning as we pray and witness on behalf of the goodness of God for all human life. You are truly cooperating with God's grace to build the His Kingdom here on earth, as Timothy has directed us to do in today's first reading. Remember faithfully his words: "This appearance (of the Kingdom) God will bring to pass at his chosen time . . . . To him be honor and everlasting rule! Amen."
To live these words, I challenge you to make the Mass and humble reception of the holy Eucharist part of your life each day. Make time also for an appropriate amount of daily personal prayer, whatever form may be the best for you, in order to work with God's grace and keep your motivations for defending the sanctity of all human life pure and sincere. In this way, you will continue to "bear fruit through perseverance" as Timothy today calls all of us to do, and thus work to build God's Kingdom as you promote the sanctity of every human life through your every word and action.