A Word from Your Pastor October 3

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend, we have a Parish Activities Fair. Don’t miss your opportunity to
respond to the Church’s call to put our Faith into practice. Every family and every individual Catholic should have at least one internal parish activity they make their own and one “big issue” that involves putting Faith into public view that is theirs as well. Faith is not a merely private matter. If it is truly Faith, it involves going out to all the world.

October is Respect Life Month. Each week our bulletin will include an insert designed by the U.S. Bishops Conference to highlight some aspect of the Church’s teaching on the dignity and worth of the human person. I want to emphasize two points for everyone to consider.

First, the teachings of the Church in this regard are not a patchwork quilt of disassociated topics. There is a consistency in the whole vision that the Church presents that starts with the dignity and value of every human person from the first moment of conception until the last breath before God’s call to Eternity. Every human being is worthy of respect because the human person is created in the image and likeness of God and will live forever. This is true even of the first moments of existence (all of us began as zygotes). This is true even of human persons who are no longer able to relate with others consciously (Alzheimer’s patients and those in so-called “persistent vegetative states”).

Second, it is of the utmost importance that members of the laity take seriously their responsibility to share this truth with the wider society. If you do not live it and share it, then the truth is not heard and understood by others. Priests and religious have their role to help all of us come to appreciate the truth revealed to us by God.

Laity have as their task the duty – imposed on them by God Himself through Baptism and Confirmation – to transform the secular sphere into a place where God is welcome. This is a vision that is incredibly powerful and empowering if you take it seriously. Your life is meant to help others make room for Christ. You cannot do so unless you allow His Truth to penetrate your heart and come to its fruition in your life.

If there is any part of the Church’s teaching that you have difficulty with, don’t start with the idea “I don’t believe it.” That will not get you anywhere. God “is found by those who test Him not, and He manifests Himself to those who do not disbelieve Him.” (Wisdom 1:1-2) Blessed John Newman said, “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt” (Apologia pro vita sua). We must allow the Church to form our consciences before we dare to rely on them. Formation of conscience requires a deepening of our understanding and an openness to truths beyond our experience. Let this month be a reminder to you to study more profoundly what the Church has to say in the issues you “disagree with” in practice or in mind. Perhaps God will open your heart to a greater experience of the truth of our Faith and life itself will become more precious in your eyes.