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Blessed are you, God of all creation. Your
mercy and love are for all people, and the life of every child is your gift.
May we demonstrate the reality of your love
by offering care and support to women and men who need our community to stand with them.
Help us to proclaim the Gospel through our
actions by giving of ourselfes in practical, specific ways.
Help us offer our hospitality and friendship
to those for whom pregnancy has become a time of crisis.
Renew us by your Holy Spirit as a people of
compassion and justice, a community of caring for life.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our
risen Lord. ....Amen!
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Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I write to you today
with concern and hope. My concern is for the many women in our community who do not find
the support they need for their health, safety and well-being during pregnancy or after
their children are born. My hope is for you and me to respond as the people of Jesus
Christ.
I want our local
church to say loudly and clearly: "No woman should feel so alone that abortion seems
her only alternative. No man need feel so trapped or fearful that he believes there is no
other answer." I want us to be able to say to any woman: "Come to any Catholic
parish in this archdiocese and you will find help." I am asking you, the Catholic
people of this archdiocese, to make this promise a reality. I make this request in the
belief that to keep this promise to a pregnant woman is a way to demonstrate in action the
reality of God's love.
In a recent pastoral
letter, the United States bishops called on the Catholic community to confront the culture
of violence that permeates our nation. This call was vigorously supported by Pope John
Paul II in his encyclical letter, The Gospel of Life (Evangeluim Vitae). The Holy
Father described abortion as one form of violence and appealed to each of us to
"respect, protect, love, and serve life, every human life" (Section #5). We are
members of a Church which has always believed that the life of every child is God's gift,
which society must nurture and must protect with its laws and statutes.
Our Archdiocese has
developed programs to assist women and their families during pregnancy. Catholic
Charities' Seton Services offers medical, social and adoption services throughout
pregnancy, birth, and afterward. The Respect Life Office provides emergency
financial assistance through the LIFE FUND, helps with housing through the Share-A-Life
Program, and in the Marian Project reaches out to women and men hurting
after an abortion.
But programs of
assistance only begin to address the needs of those for whom pregnancy becomes a time of
crisis. We recognize the many pressures that may lead a woman to consider abortion, or may
prompt those close to her to encourage one. She may face physical stress and financial
hardship. Both she and the baby's father may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of being
parents. They may have trouble continuing their education, finding a job, health
insurance, or housing. A woman may fear how her loved ones will respond when they learn
she is pregnant. She may be afraid she will be abandoned by the child's father or even by
her own family. Alone, faced with such obstacles and unaware of the support and help
available, she may believe abortion is her only choice.
As a church we can do
more to be there for her. St. Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, our God
"encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who
are in any affliction" (2 Corinthians 1:4).
If we ask a pregnant
woman to "respect, protect and love" the life of her child, let us demand of
ourselves at least a small share of the heroism we ask of her. Then we will recognize that
pregnancy is not just a "women's issue" but should be the joy and responsibility
of the mother, the father, and the entire community. To our formal programs of assistance,
we will add a welcoming spirit of hospitality and acceptance. We will proclaim the Gospel
through our actions, by giving of ourselves, just as Joseph stood by Mary throughout her
pregnancy.
Let us start as close
to home as possible - in our families and our parishes. I ask you today to commit
yourselves, your parish and your archdiocese to join with me in offering care and support
to women and men who need our community to stand with them. I am asking that you gather in
your parishes to listen to women in your community describe their experiences and needs
during pregnancy and the raising of their children. I ask your parish to reach out and
respond to those needs with tenderness. The formal pro-life programs are already in place.
Now let us join together in becoming the kind of community that makes clear by our own
lives that no one need be alone in a difficult pregnancy. Let us become ever more deeply a
people of compassion and justice, ... |
