“My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior”

This past Sunday I did a Holy Hour for the Holy Name Society at Holy Rosary Church in the Bronx, New York. Following is the homily I gave that I wanted to share with you.

During this month of October Holy Mother Church commemorates the patronal feast of this beautiful parish: the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Holy Mother Church also commemorates October as Respect Life Month.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7^th of each year, was instituted by Pope Pius V, originally known as Our Lady of Victory, but later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary by Pope Gregory XIII.

Our Lady is someone who was always open to doing the Holy Will of God. She can be best described as an active contemplative, always meditating on scripture and how it applied to her life. She was so open to scripture that when the Angel Gabriel approached her to be the mother of the Messiah, after some careful thought on the explanation the angel gave her as to what this means, she said “yes” and as a result changed the course of human history by being the mother of the savior: Jesus Christ. By her “yes” she was able to bring Christ into the world. She would then go visit her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, and bring her comfort and help in her time of need.

Elizabeth and the child in her womb, John the Baptist, were the first to realize that the child that Mary was carrying was someone special. Elizabeth said to Mary, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke1:41-45) Mary’s response was, “My soul proclaims the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Mary carrying Jesus in her womb and Elizabeth carrying John the Baptist in her womb are two examples of the sanctity of life from conception. In other parts of scripture, we hear of the fact that life in the womb from conception should be respected and protected. In Psalm 139 verse 13 we read “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” What beautiful words acknowledging that life begins at conception!

Yet we live in a society where the child’s life before birth is not respected. Instead we hear of the mother’s right to choose what to do with her body, forgetting that there’s another body in her starting from conception. Further, since the legalization of abortion through Roe v. Wade, we have seen our society become more violent.

St. Theresa of Calcutta once said, “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.”

How do we, as Catholics, bring about a greater understanding of respect for life from conception to natural death? First, we start with how we live as Catholics! We are called to love God with our whole mind, heart, and body, and to love our neighbor as our self. By loving God and loving our neighbor, we are showing respect for life in each person we meet. We are recognizing that everyone we meet is made in the image of God.

Next, we can show respect for life from conception to natural death. One way is that we can get involved with the pro-life movement through the Sisters of Life here in New York. They have plenty of opportunities for us to help women in crisis pregnancies. There are those women who turn to abortion because they feel they are caught in a situation where they have no other alternative. But the Sisters of Life are there to help the mothers make a choice for life, and to help them in that most difficult time in their lives. If we can’t volunteer, we can show financial support to the Sisters of Life who are carrying out this great work. There’s also an opportunity of praying outside of an abortion clinic with those who are there to pray for the mothers entering these clinics, ready to do something they will regret for the rest of their lives. By being present and praying for the mothers and for their children, you can save a life.

In January of each year there’s the Right to Life March in Washington, D.C. If you’re able, try to join this march to help send the message out that the killing of an innocent baby in its mother’s womb is wrong and needs to come to an end.

Being pro-life is also loving those who are at the end of their lives living alone in nursing homes, that have no one to visit them. These are lonely people who spent their lives taking care of their families, but find themselves living alone, being ignored by family and friends. By arranging to visit those in nursing homes that have no one to visit them is being pro-life. This way, we can respect the life of those who are near the end of their lives here in this world. As Mary visited her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, in her time of need, we should also visit those who are near the end of their lives to comfort and love them as well.

Get involved in whatever way you can, whether it’s through the pro-life movement or by spending time with a lonely elderly person in a nursing home. Then you can say, like Mary, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”