The United States Council of Catholic Bishops have set aside the month of October to be known as Respect Life Month and thus this first Sunday of the month is known as Respect Life Sunday. With this move it is their desire that we will pray in a special way for the sanctity of human life and find ways where we can give assistance and aid that leads towards the well being of human life. Here in the state of Tennessee this should be very important for each of us because of the upcoming election and thus Tennessee Amendment One. We therefore have probably seen pink signs scattered throughout Oak Ridge or this Church campus which say "Yes on One." This "yes" represents the great reality that we must always be concerned with the sanctity of human life and thus we cannot ever allow ourself to simply look the other way. To look the other way and to be passive whenever human life is not being respected would be a great sin because all life must be held as being sacred from conception to a natural death. Dracano Sapien stated: "He who has the ability to act on an injustice, but who stands idly by, is just as guilty as he who holds the knife."
So often we have allowed a relativistic way of looking at the world to seep into our practice of faith. Concerning moral questions we may say that we believe that life should be held as sacred, but do not want to define that as a truth that everyone must accept. Others, even Catholics, say that abortion does not really kill life because after all life does not begin until birth. If this were to be the truth what took place at the Annunciation when Mary said "yes" to the angel Gabriel was nothing special. If this were so when the baby leaped in the womb of Elizabeth when the baby Christ came into his midst would only be pure coincidence because neither would actually be human life. Yes, we have the obligation to be concerned with human life and thus cannot allow ourself to take a relativistic approach concerning this matter. We also cannot fall into the trap of seeing this as a one issue matter because the sanctity of human life issue concerns all life.
Our Gospel frames together this message because through it we see that Christ is the one who would come to die upon the cross to lead others towards salvation. His death was not done in order to save a few whose life He believed should be held as sacred, but instead was offered that all of us may realize our importance in His eyes because we were created in the image and the likeness of God and thus in return are cherished by Him. If His love was so great upon the cross, so should our love be great for all of human life that we encounter. We should realize the importance of human life and be willing to defend it always especially through our trust in the words of Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians which stated: " by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known by God." Indeed may we be willing to pray always that life may be held as being sacred and may we also be willing to produce fruit in the Vinyard of the Lord which shows our concern for the issue of human life instead of so easily turning away.
The theme given to us for this Respect Life Sunday was taken from a homily given by Pope Francis in which he stated: "each of us is a masterpiece of God's creation." Indeed we are each a masterpiece of God's creation. May we allow the fruit of our life to reflect such a reality because in doing so we are not living as animals, but as those who are created in the image and likeness of God. When we see those who are not being treated with such respect may we be willing to stand up for truth, no matter how hard it may be, and shows these individuals the respect that is owed to them because they are a masterpiece created by God. When we come across the poor, the young, the elderly, the worker, the imprisoned, or the dying may we not begin to remove people's dignity, but instead to always give it proper due. In this manner we will indeed be showing and living out the great fact that all of human life is sacred from conception to a natural death.
I conclude this homily with a letter written from our bishop, Richard Stika, concerning the upcoming election and Amendment One. As we listen to these words may all of us be willing to stand up to the sanctity of human life by our prayer or fasting, by educating ourself and others on the importance of this amendment, and actually going out to vote.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of the great privileges of living in a democracy is the right of its citizens to vote. Although the Catholic Church will never identify itself with any political community or system, we can and must speak up in support of moral issues. One such issue that we as Catholics will have an opportunity to vote on November 4th is Amendment One. This amendment is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue, but a moral and life issue of greatest magnitude. A yes vote on Amendment One, a prolife amendment, would neutralize the extreme interpretation taken by the Tennessee State Supreme Court in 2000 in which they declared that our State Constitution guarantees the right to an abortion. Passage of this Amendment would restore back to the voter the “life” decisions that were taken from them by the state court decision. For this reason, I and my brother Bishops in Nashville and Memphis wholeheartedly ask for your support for “life” by voting for “Yes on One” this November 4th.
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