Today all the diocese of the United States the Church are observing “A Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”, commemorating the fateful Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade in 1973 that legalized abortion throughout our country. It is a sad and somber day that should provoke deep soul-searching in all believers and people of goodwill regarding the direction of our country.
In many ways, our modern society has welcomed what Saint John Paul II called “a culture of death” in our midst. Such a culture does not value the unique, unrepeatable and God-given value and dignity of every human person. On the contrary, the culture of death has commoditized human life, reducing it to something that is disposable in the womb and through the grave sin of abortion has led to the death of millions of unborn children. It measures human life in terms of money, resulting in the wanton neglect of the poor, elderly, sick and vulnerable in our midst. It has advocated the sin of euthanasia for those who are terminally ill, in the mistaken belief that ending a human life is somehow an act of mercy. This culture has invaded almost every aspect of our society and its effects are devastating.
We know that God’s grace can help a person understand and embrace the Culture of Life. For this reason, in addition to all the ways we must strive to advocate for human life, we must also pray to our Heavenly Father for the conversion of our society. Let us pray today that each of our fellow citizens will reject the culture of death and embrace the good news of life that comes to us by the use of our right reason and the revelation of the Gospel. For millions of lives are hanging in the balance.
The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos.
