So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.
At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and
virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Can it be true that the very words that President Obama used today to inspire Americans to move forward with hope and virtue can also be used, without addition, subtraction, or deletion, to define what it means for us to go on this religious pilgrimage in defense of life? Remarkably the answer is yes! The president's words, even though he does not share our moral view and will not be on our side when we march on Thursday, are perfect for us!
How appropriate is that night when George Washington and the small revolutionary army faced almost certain defeat, not only for the political situation that confronts our country today, but even more importantly, for the moral situation of our country that no longer guarantees the right to life. Allow me now to paraphrase for our current condition.
How appropriate is that night when George Washington and the small revolutionary army faced almost certain defeat, not only for the political situation that confronts our country today, but even more importantly, for the moral situation of our country that no longer guarantees the right to life. Allow me now to paraphrase for our current condition.
On a day when the threats to life are as great as ever, when our capital seems more devoid than ever of those who stand for the right to life, when it seems like the enemy is advancing and our cause retreating, when the snow is stained with blood, at a moment when it seems there is no way our cause can win, when nothing but hope and virtue can survive, we leave to March for Life!
Those of us born after 1973 in a country that did not guarantee our right to be born go to our nation’s capital with righteous anger that so many of our brothers and sisters have been lost to the sin of abortion. We go also with hope and virtue and against great odds, because we refuse to let the story end as it now reads We refuse to let the American conscience be dulled anymore than it already is. We will not turn back, until we carry forth and deliver safely to our children the most fundamental right of every human person, the right to be born. The right to life!
There are many who consider the events of today to be a great miracle. Where there was once moral blindness, there is now light, and a person of African-American heritage is now the president of the United States. For those who worked to make this day a reality, for those who marched and suffered to end the dehumanization of persons, this day is understandably a great joy! Barack Obama is a person! Barack Obama is the president! We rejoice with them! It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington DC today. We rejoice as a nation for the hope that President Obama represents, and for the possibility of change through his great gift of leadership. We pray for him and his family!
We pray as well, however, that our new President and our Congress will listen to our pleas for conversion of heart and mind! Tomorrow night we will wear purple, the liturgical color of repentance, to give witness, that although change is possible, and moral blindness can give way to light, that in our country since 1973, an even greater moral blindness has come upon us. The sin of abortion is the greatest sin in our country’s history because its victims, the unborn, are even more defenseless than any group of persons who have been persecuted within these borders. They are invisible. They are without a voice. We leave tonight to March for them. We leave tonight to make them visible and to be their voice. We march and suffer so that this greatest of moral blindnesses can one day be replaced by the light of truth and love. We march so that we can grow in virtue and holiness by this spiritual pilgrimage, so that we can change even when the laws of our land do not change, so that we will continue the struggle for life with hope and virtue no matter how long it takes. It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington today. We will be a small group, maybe 100,000, maybe more. Yet we march with confidence that on the day Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land, tens of millions will join us in Washington to celebrate that great victory! In the meantime, do not lose hope because our numbers are not greater. Look with faith and see who is marching with us! If you look with faith, can you not see the invisible army marching by our side! 53 million children lost to abortion. They march with us. The great cloud of witnesses, led by the apostles and martyrs, who gave their lives so that we might believe in the Gospel of Life, and have life in abundance, march with us! Mary, who gave birth in the most challenging of circumstances, who is the mother of all who have eternal life, marches with us! Jesus, our Lord, who gave His life so that our sins, including the sin of abortion, may be forgiven, marches with us! Now that, my dear friends, is reason to hope. We are on the side that cannot lose, because in Christ the victory over sin and death has been won forever! Let us proclaim that not just in eternity, but also in time, and within the borders of this great country of ours, life will be victorious! Let us march with faith, hope and love! +m
Those of us born after 1973 in a country that did not guarantee our right to be born go to our nation’s capital with righteous anger that so many of our brothers and sisters have been lost to the sin of abortion. We go also with hope and virtue and against great odds, because we refuse to let the story end as it now reads We refuse to let the American conscience be dulled anymore than it already is. We will not turn back, until we carry forth and deliver safely to our children the most fundamental right of every human person, the right to be born. The right to life!
There are many who consider the events of today to be a great miracle. Where there was once moral blindness, there is now light, and a person of African-American heritage is now the president of the United States. For those who worked to make this day a reality, for those who marched and suffered to end the dehumanization of persons, this day is understandably a great joy! Barack Obama is a person! Barack Obama is the president! We rejoice with them! It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington DC today. We rejoice as a nation for the hope that President Obama represents, and for the possibility of change through his great gift of leadership. We pray for him and his family!
We pray as well, however, that our new President and our Congress will listen to our pleas for conversion of heart and mind! Tomorrow night we will wear purple, the liturgical color of repentance, to give witness, that although change is possible, and moral blindness can give way to light, that in our country since 1973, an even greater moral blindness has come upon us. The sin of abortion is the greatest sin in our country’s history because its victims, the unborn, are even more defenseless than any group of persons who have been persecuted within these borders. They are invisible. They are without a voice. We leave tonight to March for them. We leave tonight to make them visible and to be their voice. We march and suffer so that this greatest of moral blindnesses can one day be replaced by the light of truth and love. We march so that we can grow in virtue and holiness by this spiritual pilgrimage, so that we can change even when the laws of our land do not change, so that we will continue the struggle for life with hope and virtue no matter how long it takes. It is good that 2 million people descended upon Washington today. We will be a small group, maybe 100,000, maybe more. Yet we march with confidence that on the day Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land, tens of millions will join us in Washington to celebrate that great victory! In the meantime, do not lose hope because our numbers are not greater. Look with faith and see who is marching with us! If you look with faith, can you not see the invisible army marching by our side! 53 million children lost to abortion. They march with us. The great cloud of witnesses, led by the apostles and martyrs, who gave their lives so that we might believe in the Gospel of Life, and have life in abundance, march with us! Mary, who gave birth in the most challenging of circumstances, who is the mother of all who have eternal life, marches with us! Jesus, our Lord, who gave His life so that our sins, including the sin of abortion, may be forgiven, marches with us! Now that, my dear friends, is reason to hope. We are on the side that cannot lose, because in Christ the victory over sin and death has been won forever! Let us proclaim that not just in eternity, but also in time, and within the borders of this great country of ours, life will be victorious! Let us march with faith, hope and love! +m
1 comment:
Awesome Homily Father
God Bless you on your trip
Oremus
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