Pro
Life Homily September 2012
Father
Jerry Gauvreau C.C
So you’ll notice that by looking at this
week’s bulletin that there’s a couple of pro- life events coming up, so this is
probably just as good as any Sunday to talk about abortion, pro - life
movement. Certainly the readings can tie
in to all this for sure.
If you
look at Campaign Life Coalition web site they report that: abortion is legal in
Canada throughout all 9 months of pregnancy – for any reason .
And when
you read about the definition of the types of abortion performed, especially
what partial birth abortion is really all about, I don’t know how anyone can still
come away and be pro-choice. Plain and
simple, abortion is murder.
Our
Catechism, paragraph 2270 very clearly teaches us that: human life must be
respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the
first moment of his existence, a human
being must be recognized as having the rights of a person…
This past
Friday in the House of Commons, MP Mr. Stephen Woodworth proposed to the
members of Parliament a bill commonly referred to as Motion 312 – you may have
heard of it last spring – we knew this was coming.
In Motion
312 he urges Members of Parliament to call on a study of when human life begins
– If scientific evidence tells us that our legal definition of who is a human
being is wrong, is it right for us to ignore it? – He asks “why would anyone oppose a respectful
dialogue to gather evidence on such an important law?”
So Friday
night I called his office and just left him a message supporting him, blessing
him, telling him I was praying for him, thanking him for having the courage to
put this Motion forward.
Campaign
Life Coalition’s President Mr. Jim Hughes says, “Motion 312 calls for
parliament to evaluate an outdated 400 year old law that denies modern
scientific evidence that proves that life begins at conception.”
In my own
personal research, over and over and over again, it shows that scientific
studies have proven that within weeks of Conception a baby’s heart can be
detected – in less than 2 months all vital organs are present in the baby which
is a real person – not a blob of tissue.
The vote
on Motion 312 will be held most likely this coming Wednesday, the Feast of St.
Jean de Brebeuf and the Holy Canadian Martyrs – St Jean de Brebeuf had his heart cut out and eaten by the
Iroquois , tortured ; they saw his courage and they wanted it.
So if the
Motion is defeated I would just like Mr.
Harper to know as well as all the Members of Parliament that the Pro-Life
Movement is not going away – we’re here to stay, we’re in your face – we’re going to be around a lot longer than any of us will and any of them. The Pro-Life Movement has courage; catch it!
We cannot
be silent any longer – it’s time to be Pro-Life in this culture of death – and
don’t let anyone tell you to mind our own business, because this is our business – as Christians and as
Catholics, the child in the womb is our responsibility.
( CC#2270 )
- Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment
of conception…
A few
years ago Archbishop Adam Exner said the same thing : He said it’s time to stop
making excuses. It’s time to stop being
afraid of what others will think when we stand up for what is right. It’s time
to challenge the status quo. It’s time to put our faith into action. It’s time
to be Pro-Life in private and in public. A
child is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift always to be cherished …
And just
this week in the news, I’m not sure if you read about it, but there ‘s a lot of
articles about Justin Beiber’s mother . I’m
not sure, did anybody hear her story?
She’s come out with a book but she admitted that when she got pregnant
with Justin she considered having an abortion. Everybody told her to. She was 17, a messed up kid, on drugs and
alcohol - but in her heart she knew it
was wrong – I think in her heart she knew a child is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift always to be cherished.
And just
last year, you might remember Justin himself was asked about abortion and he
said “I really don’t believe in abortion
– I think the unborn child is a human being” – he took a lot of flack for that statement: God bless him!
Fr. Frank
Pavone, Founder of Priests’ for Life says he received a letter one time from a
lady who told him that planned parenthood told her that her pregnancy was a
blob of tissue as easily removable as a wart.
“No one told me I was killing a human being or spoke to me about
adoption or single parenting.”
You may
have heard the story of an NHL goalie named Justin Pogge.
When his mother became pregnant she was going to jump off a bridge, but
she felt her baby kick - and she changed her mind – a lump of tissue does not
kick. A baby is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift from God !
Last May,
many of you know I was on a Marian pilgrimage in Medugorje and it was at the
same time when we were holding the Pro-Life week here in Ottawa. And during the annual March for Life here in
Ottawa - I followed it closely through
the internet – but close to 20,000 people participated, marching through the
streets of Ottawa bringing the Pro-Life message into the very heart of
Parliament Hill.
And while
in Medugorje I heard a story, first hand account from a gentleman who told me
how an abortion doctor from the Ukraine
visited Medugorje, well you know the only reason she went was because it was a
free trip - check things out. So, one
day she hikes up apparition hill where Our Blessed Mother is said to have first
appeared and when she got up there she looked around , she had a vision of
every child’s skull and bones that she had murdered through abortion over the
last forty years. Today, they are
bringing more and more doctors over there for retreats; pro life retreats.
In 1994
Mother Teresa said, “ I feel the
greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion because it’s a war against the
child, a direct killing of the innocent child¼if
we accept that a mother can kill even her own child how can we tell people not
to kill one another? “
By
abortion the mother does not learn to love but kills even her own child to
solve her problems. And by abortion the father is told that he does not have to
take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The
father is likely to put others in the same trouble. So abortion just leads to
more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to
love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest
destroyer of love and peace is abortion¼
So what are
some other powerful Pro - Life Movements and Campaigns that are happening these
days ? Well, I have already mentioned
March for Life. Many parishes have a
Letter writing campaigns to their members of parliament and the prime minister. I wrote my first one when I was about 8 or 9
years old. I remember being at the kitchen table and specifically asking my
father, “what’s abortion?” I didn’t have
a clue. He said, “the Government kills
babies.”
So recently
I came across a beautiful story. It’s called
The Letters for Life Story, and this was initiated by a seventeen year old girl by the name of Alexandra ( if I pronounce her last name right ) Jezierski.
See, she
was disappointed in the fact that Prime Minister Harper doesn’t even have the
courage to open up and discuss the abortion issue.
So last spring
she started a letter writing Campaign in the hopes that MP’s would receive
100,000 letters that speak out against the evils of abortion. As the Letter
writing Campaign progressed she turned the Campaign towards supporting Mr.
Woodworth’s Motion 312. Then they teamed up with MP Postcard Campaign which was
doing something very similar. Every letter written and every postcard sent to
MP’s was to act as a voice for every child that will be aborted in Canada this
year. Over 100,000 letters and postcards , tens of thousands of which are still
being sorted through the Post Office. Because
of a back log, they may not make it to the offices of the MP’s because of a shortage
of man power. So today is a good day to pray, the day saint Anthony died: get em delivered
Over
100,00 letters and postcards each representing a child of God who will be aborted in Canada
this year – 100,000 aborted children in which you and I and every Member of
Parliament are responsible for their well being and protection.
So moving
on we have also 40 Days for Life. Put
your hands up it you’ve heard of 40 Days for Life. Quite a few of you: alright!
Check this story out.
40 Days
for Life is an International Campaign of prayer and peaceful witness outside
abortion facilities to highlight and defeat abortion for what it is – murder of
babies who have no voice.
The first
40 Days for Life was held in Texas back in 2004
A local
Pro-Life group prayed for an answer about how to reduce abortion in their area
– and this is what the Lord revealed to them: 40 days, prayerful witness for
life.
The
Campaign came together in a matter of weeks. A thousand people came forward to
participate and their prayers led to a twenty eight per cent decline in abortions in that community.
So here
we are 12 years later: 40 Days for Life is spreading : this Fall, next week
actually, there are 316 locations holding 40 Days for Life prayer campaigns. Across the United States – forty
nine States are involved
Here is
Canada , seven provinces – which includes eighteen cities right here in
Ontario: Ottawa is one of them. But they’re also being held in England, Spain,
Australia and for the first time -Uganda –
So are
they making any difference? Well, a little bit of research tells me that some
abortion workers have quit their jobs and are now Pro-Life, twenty four abortion
facilities have closed and organizers of 40Days for Life show that close to 6,000
babies have been saved. It’s a beautiful number, even at one would make it all
worthwhile, even if one child was saved
So the sixth
40 Days for Life begins in Ottawa this Wednesday, the same day interestingly
enough that Motion 312 will be voted upon. And our parish will be on site as we
were last year for one day. Our day this years is Thursday, Oct 4th and there are sign up sheets in the Narthex –
So I want to really encourage you to come out.
As well
as next Sunday afternoon is the twenty eight Annual Life Chain from 2:00 to 3:00 at the corner of Montreal
Road and Saint Laurent Boulevard. We’ll meet in the parking lot here about 1:40
to car pool down so again, please join us. We can make a difference: together we can make
a difference to be a voice for an aborted child, even one who may be threatened
by abortion.
This
whole issue of abortion ; our Late Holy Father John Paul II says the Church is
aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision and She does
not doubt that in many cases it was painful and even a shattering decision .
The wound in your heart may not yet have healed . Certainly what happened was
and remains terribly wrong but do not give in to discouragement and do not lose
hope. God the Father of Mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his
peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
So in
closing I’d like to just encourage all of you to fast and pray for the Life Chain next Sunday that the Lord will
touch many hearts, and also during the 40 Days for Life prayer campaigns going
on across Canada, the United States and other countries.
Know
today’s readings are very powerful and in the Gospel Jesus says, as he took a
child among him, taking it in his arms he said: “whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me…”
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