RU 47/2008 - UNITED STATES
- The Here is what Mgr Robert Finn, bishop of Another bishop, Mgr Robert Hermann, the actual Apostolic Administrator of the vacant
diocese of ” What kind of witness will I give to Him when I go into the voting booth
this election day? The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my
value system. If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more
than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble. Pope John Paul II, in
his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici tells us: ‘Above
all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for
example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is
false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right
and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.’
The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my
right to a thriving economy. I am living proof of this, since I am here because
my parents believed this priority and lived it. My desire for a good economy,
or my desire to end the war in My parents got married about one year before the
stock market crash of 1929, and yet they raised 15 children in the midst of the
Great Depression. They had no money. My mother made her own wedding gown and
her own bouquet of flowers. I have my parents’ wedding picture on the wall of
my office, and I am reminded every day of the sacrifices they made for life. Judgment Day for us is on its way. Those 47
million children our nation destroyed are still living. We have destroyed their
bodies, but their souls are still alive. When our Lord comes again, they may
very well be there to judge us. Even worse, Jesus tells us that whatever we do
to the least of our brethren, we do to Him. We would truly shudder if we heard
the words, ‘I was in my mother’s womb but you took my life!’ It is quite
possible that we might see these children, but, depending upon the choices we
have made, we may very well be separated from them by a great chasm which
cannot be crossed, much as the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor man,
during his lifetime here on earth but was separated from him after death. The
rich man was in flames, but Lazarus was in the bosom of his heavenly Father. The Catholic Church teaches, in its catechism,
in the works of Pope John Paul II and in the writings of Pope Benedict XVI,
that the issue of life is the most basic issue and must be given priority over
the issue of the economy, the issue of war or any other issue. These same
teachings inform us that when both candidates permit the right to abortion, but
unequally so, we must chose to mitigate the evil by choosing the candidate who is
less permissive of abortion…My goal is not to engage you in some political
party way but to engage you with our Saviour and His teachings. We need to
constantly challenge our accustomed behaviours in the light of the Gospel. We
may say that we are following our conscience, but are we informing our
consciences with the truth about these issues? We must follow truth and our
conscience, but be steeped in truth so that they be rightly formed…” - Our answer: A.M.E.N.! - (ru; cf. DR. Nov. 3,
CO Oct. 18 ; and for A.M.E.N. see www.amen-net.org) -
- O.A.M.D.G. - - |