GOSPEL OF LIFE

 

Today we have a guest blogger, Arlene B. Muller. Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OSF) is a lector and EM at St. Pancras parish, a singer in the choir at St. Margaret's parish, a professed Secular Franciscan at St. Adalbert's Secular Franciscan fraternity & an itinerant speech/language therapist working with preschool children with delayed language development. She enjoys writing and music and sharing Christian and pro-life posts on FACEBOOK.

In my first installment I referred to the connection between the GOSPEL and the GOSPEL OF LIFE and to fighting abortion, using the acronym P.L.E.A.: PRAYER, LEGAL/LEGISLATION, EDUCATE & EVANGELIZE, & ADVOCATE for women in crisis pregnancies to help & support their choosing LIFE. In my second installment I wrote about the importance of PRAYER without which nothing good can be accomplished, and the prayer petitions related to the pro-life cause. It is important that our efforts be centered in CHRIST and in the GOSPEL.

Regarding the legal and political aspects of fighting abortion I wish to point out the error of two opposing opinions:

1. The opinion that it is primarily a legal battle for which the sole answer is making abortion illegal. Although I agree 100% that we should strive to make abortion illegal, vote for pro-life candidates to the extent that our consciences will allow (always considering the sanctity of human life the PRE-EMINENT ISSUE but also considering other important issues as well as character and qualifications), promote pro-life legislation by signing petitions and writing/e-mailing/calling our political leaders and representatives, work on the political front and support pro-life groups that work on the legal and political fronts, make use of social media and the internet to communicate our views, etc., we must also pray, because it is a spiritual battle and because hearts must be changed, educate about fetal development and evangelize, and advocate by supporting pro-life pregnancy resource centers and organizations like GOOD COUNSEL HOMES and THE BRIDGE TO LIFE that provide support for women in crisis pregnancies before, during, and after birth, or else we could still wind up with women choosing illegal and unsafe abortions. Our goal must always be NOT ONLY TO MAKE ABORTION ILLEGAL BUT TO MAKE ABORTION UNTHINKABLE.

2. The opinion that we should NOT strive to make abortion illegal but merely provide more aid (usually from the government) to the poor and to single mothers in the hope that this will decrease abortions. Although we must definitely help the poor and help women in crisis pregnancies by providing for their medical and material needs before, during, and after birth, we should never promote, endorse, enable or be otherwise complicit with abortion, which is a grave evil, and although we must fight abortion on various fronts, it is highly probable that fewer women would choose to risk illegal or unsafe abortions. Also, we must always make a stand to defend the sanctity of human life in our nation and throughout the world.

I recommend that we support pro-life organizations. Two such organizations are the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which fights for the pro-life cause and for religious freedom in court, and Susan B. Anthony List, which supports and promotes pro-life political candidates, especially pro-life women political candidates.

Currently the battle between the GOSPEL OF LIFE vs the CULTURE OF DEATH is especially fierce. On the pro-life side we HOPEFULLY could be FINALLY close to OVERTURNING ROE V WADE and we have some states enacting pro-life legislation. At the same time the pro-abortion forces are pushing EXTREME pro-abortion legislation on the Federal level and threatening to ruin our duly appointed pro-life majority by stacking the Supreme Court with additional Justices who would be pro-abortion. Therefore, we must be vigilant in prayer and action for the sake of the GOSPEL OF LIFE.

The Love of Money is the Root of All Evils

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

This saying, I’m sure, is very familiar to many people. Many of us have probably heard only part of it: We have heard that money is the root of all evils, instead of the full quote. It is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evils.

In this reading from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul is teaching us that our primary focus should not be on the things of this world, but on love and service of God and of our neighbor. Paul is teaching that money in and of itself is not evil, bur rather, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Loving money, or anything else more than God, is a form of idolatry. Money, clothes, material wealth, are all tools for us to live out our lives in service of God and one another. Material wealth is not the end all of our existence.

St. Paul is also teaching against arguments and verbal disputes among the followers of Jesus Christ, which only lead to envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to not only have God as the center of who we are as Christians, but we are to show love and respect for all people. All this bickering amongst people shows selfishness and a lack of love and respect towards those people in our lives that are made in the image of God. We are not to imagine ourselves as being better or superior to anybody else. We are to live in humble service to God and to our neighbor.

Paul goes on to teach us that we are to pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. By being righteous, we are called to live out our lives according to the laws of God. Further, we are to live out our lives with faith in God and are called to be patent and gentle with all those in our lives. That’s not always easy, but it is the thing that God expects us to do. Paul is reminding us that we are called to follow what the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us: to love God with our whole mind, heart and being and to love our neighbors as ourselves. These two great commandments are central to the teachings of Jesus Christ and who we are as Christians.

As we live out our day today, let us place all our cares, concerns, and worries into the loving hands of God. Let us be opened to His love for us. Let us not make anything or anyone more important to us than our love for God and our neighbor. It is then that we can find that peace and serenity that can only come from the loving hands of God.

Remove the wooden beam from your own; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye

 

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today, our Lord is pointing out the dangers of us worrying too much about the sinfulness of other people in our lives. It’s easy for us to see the sinfulness of others and to judge them according to the standards that we understand from our Christian Faith. It’s good to pray for other people and their relationship with God, but our Lord is pointing out that we must first worry about our own relationship with God before we can turn to others and try to help them fix their lives.

What are the wooden beams in our eyes and the splinter that’s in our brother’s eyes that the Lord is talking about? Our Lord is talking about the sinfulness and shortcomings that we all have due to our sinful human nature. It is in our own sinfulness that we need to look at and to work on as we attempt to get closer to God. We need to improve our own relationship with God before we worry about other people’s relationship with God. In the gospel story about the woman caught in adultery, those who brought the woman before the Lord were all set to stone her to death for the sin she was caught doing and wanted Jesus to approve of the stoning. Jesus saw right through their hypocrisy and said, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”  Realizing their own sinfulness, they dropped the stones and left the woman alone to receive forgiveness and love from the Lord. All throughout the gospels, Jesus is teaching us about our need to improve our own relationship with God before we start worrying about the sinfulness of other.   We need to ask ourselves: Do we have God in the center of who we are? Do we spend time developing that relationship with God by the regular practice of prayer and reflection on scripture? Do we make the regular use of confession during the times when we fall short of who we are as Christians? In addition to our time in Church at mass and the prayers we do here, do we also spend time during the day in thanksgiving to God for the many gifts he has given us? It’s how we live our life that the Lord is pointing out in today’s gospel. The “wooden beam” is the ways we fall short in loving God and our neighbor. We are not to worry about how others are living their lives of faith in God, but rather we are to worry about where we are in our own relationship with Him.

When it comes to sin, and developing a life of holiness, we must adopt a “Me-first” mentality.  We need to take an honest look at our own lives before we try to point out sin in someone else. An honest Christian reserves his strictest criticism for himself. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:16 to watch your own life and doctrine closely, for in so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

As we grow closer to God in our daily prayer life and live in a way that is pleasing to God, we will start to remove that wooden beam that is in our eyes. Others will see how we are living and at this time we can start helping each other grow closer to the God who loves us without restrictions.  

Stand Firm and Let Jesus Do What He is Going to Do

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation

 

Mass readings for today's reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church | USCCB

In our first reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, we hear Paul make it clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man. Paul tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God and that in Him were created all things in heaven and earth. Paul goes on to teach that all things are created through Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus is the source of all creation. In Jesus all fullness was pleased to dwell.

As Catholic Christians we know and believe in the divinity of Jesus and in the realty of the Trinity: that there are three persons in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paul is confirming this realty when Paul tells us that “all things were created through him and for him.”

Paul is also reminding us in today’s reading that Christ is the “head of the Body, the Church.” As Christians we are called to live our lives in imitation of Christ. All that we are and all we do; we are to live our lives as followers of Christ Jesus. We are to live our lives with the knowledge and attitude of having Christ as preeminent in everything we do. This means that we are to have Him as the center of who are and to also love others as Jesus expects us to love them. By living out our lives in this way, others will see and take notice that we are not only talking about the love of Christ in our lives, but we are also actually living as Christ would want us to live. In this way, we can bring others to Christ by the example of who we are.

Mother St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.” So, as followers of Christ, let us put the love of Christ into action by how we not only love God with our whole heart, mind and body, but also how we love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us put this love of God into action in our family, our friends, and with all those we meet each day.