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Life Issues, Challenges and Non-Violent Advocacy

Our witness to life is weakened when it is not consistent.

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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on January 12, 2003

The Church celebrates Christmas up to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. At Christmastime we focus on Jesus as a vulnerable little baby inspiring love and affection, but we come to this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and suddenly he is an adult facing his public ministry. We are confronted not only with the presence of a loving God, but also with someone who challenges.

The readings today speak very clearly about the call of the Baptism of the Lord. "A bruised reed he will not break; a smoldering wick he will not quench until he has established justice in the land." The Messiah will practice non-violence and gentleness. Jesus calls us to the victory of justice by using the means of non-violent advocacy. The second reading identifies his messianic role as a peacemaker.

Jesus quotes in his first public sermon from the same biblical writing, "I came to bring liberty to captives, sight to the blind, good news to the poor and to set the oppressed free". Jesus public ministry involved teaching, healing, and reintegrating with the community all that are afflicted and exploited. He sought out the vulnerable and proclaimed justice and peace. The foundation of His ministry, the foundation also of the Church's social mission, was the life and dignity of the human person.

The water of baptism symbolizes this clearly. Where I worked in the Dominican Republic, some communities had no water. Children had to walk 5 miles or more with a donkey to get contaminated water from the river and then purify it. The campesinados on the border with Haiti had a phrase; "The blood of the land is water. Without water it dies".

Celebrating Peace and Justice in January

Water is life. During this month of January the church celebrates the summons to peace and justice. We ground this ministry of peace and justice in the value of life, the right to life. The March for Life on January 22, 2003 highlights the sacredness of all human life. Tens of millions of children do not see the light of day because of abortion. It's clear that the church's position is in opposition to abortion and to policies that permit abortion. That is neither news nor a secret to anyone.

What is not clear to a lot of Catholics is that the Church is also involved with support and other options for women facing difficult pregnancies. Our diocese has Catholic Charities Children Services, which is a major source of support to women facing hard choices. Here at St. Charles we have Borromeo Housing to provide practical support to women who might otherwise choose abortion. St Charles' Respect Life Committee is organizing transportation to witness to life on January 22nd.

Our witness to life is weakened when it is not consistent. It needs to be a witness that it is seen in the range of issues wherever life is threatened not only unborn children but also the life of all children and all adults.

Our diocese is involved this month also with Catholic Advocacy Day in Richmond. Bishop Loverede and Bishop Sullivan will lead Catholics from across the state to the capital to witness to our concern for the poor, the homeless, those in need of housing and also those on death row in Virginia as well as issues affecting the beginning of life.

An important life issue to be considered by state legislators is the death penalty. Recent developments in Illinois and revelations about the workings and the lack of justice even in the application of the death penalty have highlighted this question. The Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded people should be excluded from the death penalty. In Virginia we have someone on death row with an IQ of 59. In the next month our representatives will determine if that person qualifies for this exemption or not.

Virginia still maintains a rule that determines that new evidence other than DNA indicating innocence is not admissible 21 days after conviction. It is a rule that should be changed whether or not one agrees with the death penalty.

Be a Witness to Jesus' Life, Peace, and Justice

Increasingly as a church we are becoming consistent in our witness to issues that affect the end of life and the beginning of life. When we think of children we not only think about American children but also children of hunger and poverty in other lands. I was impressed with the President of Brazil who in his inaugural address vowed that he would put a breakfast, a lunch and a supper on the table of every Brazilian. Let's hope he is successful. The right to life brings with it the right to food. Think about children who might be innocent victims of our action that is proposed for Baghdad. American lives are sacred but innocent children in Baghdad are also sacred to God.

For this reason and others our church has examined the proposed action on Iraq. The US Bishops' statement is posted on our web site for your review. It is a review of the proposed action in the light of the principles of the just war tradition. The Bishops have seriously questioned, based on those principles, the justification for military action. Obviously Catholics can have different opinions on this question. In a democracy it is allowable for you to reflect on and question, as faithful citizens, actions that affect currently 100,000 or more Americans who are in harm's way and all the others who may be affected. Questions must be raised because the dignity of every human life has to be weighed.

This month we celebrate not a saint but an apostle of non-violent action for justice, Martin Luther King. He called for non-violent action to combat the institutional racism that existed in this country. His witness serves as a challenge to those who don't believe in the power of non-violence. Through non-violent action, discriminatory laws and policies have changed in this country to reflect more clearly the dignity of every human person.

I would like to quote Dr. King:

"I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus' thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and you see that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that's the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn't cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love".

Our Respect Live Committee will provide transportation to the March for Life, and our Social Justice Committee will arrange transportation to the Catholic Advocacy Day in Richmond as well as a peace rally. Not all are called to these kinds of public action. However, all are urged to reflect on our attitudes, our values, and our opinions in the light of the witness of Jesus and his baptismal call to do justice, to promote peace, and to celebrate the life that is given to us. "You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter", is a proclamation made by God not just to his son Jesus but also to all who inherit this planet.

Let's say yes again at the beginning of this year not only to Jesus' love at Christmasime but to the difficult witness to make his life, his justice, and his peace more evident in this endangered planet.

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