ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends in Christ, esteemed collaborators in the cause of human life,

Here, once again, we are together for this annual gathering of pro-life directors.  I am happy to be with you and to reaffirm your crucial work and patient efforts to build a culture of life, especially in these challenging times.  How important it is for us to reflect that all this work and all these efforts are made in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At this time I would like to draw attention to our readings for the Feast of Saint Lawrence as they highlight a Christian virtue that characterizes your special role as leaders in the pro-life movement.  It is the quality of generosity.  Today I want to encourage you to continue living this generosity as you dedicate your energy and talents to promoting the dignity of human life.  Your work of respecting, protecting, loving and serving life is often misunderstood in today=s culture, yet it is work that is desperately needed. In the words of Pope John Paul II, in The Gospel of Life: AOnly in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!@  (no. 5).

1.  Christ=s words in the Gospel emphasize the significance of martyrdom: AWhoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.@  How fitting it is today that we celebrate the feast of Saint Lawrence, a courageous and spirited third century deacon whose final days and martyrdom contain important lessons for us.  Pope Saint Sixtus II placed Lawrence in charge of the administration of Church goods and the care of the poor. With the arrest and beheading of Pope Sixtus under the Valerian persecution, Lawrence was ordered to gather together all the riches of the Church and turn them over to the Roman prefect. He asked for three days to comply, during which time he distributed as much of the treasury as he could to the poor. He then went before the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering, explaining that these least ones were the true treasures of the Church. The bold gesture earned him his death.

Certainly Lawrence wanted to keep the wealth of the Church out of the hands of Roman pagans who were intent on destroying Christians and their faith.  But he was not simply being crafty in presenting the poor and lame in place of material goods.  His was an exemplary catechesis, a witness of profound truth!  The poor, the disabled, the outcast truly are the jewels of God=s kingdom.  Their lives are of infinite worth and precious to God, and they should be to us as well, because loving and caring for them is our means of loving and serving God.  It is through them that our path to holiness passes.  Lawrence=s declaration concerning the dignity and worth of each human being should resonate in our hearts and inspire us to follow his bold example.

In his death, Saint Lawrence also exhibited great joy in facing adversity.  According to witnesses, he was roasted to death on an iron grill over a slow fire.  He is reputed to have joked to his persecutors: ATurn me over. I=m done on this side.@ His unshakeable faith and cheerful embrace of suffering were the cause of many conversions among those who witnessed his martyrdom.  We, too, must remember to remain cheerful witnesses to the truth about human life, notwithstanding whatever inconvenience or suffering might be involved.

Martyrdom is the highest example of generosity that we see in Christian life.  It is inseparable from an authentic imitation of Christ Himself, in His passion and death on the cross.  This is true not only of physical martyrdom, to the point of shedding blood, but also of that Awhite martyrdom@ that likewise brings with it a sharing in Christ=s passion.

This sharing involves that daily, and often hidden, dying to self which requires great grace.  Christ presents to us a model of self-denial in His own life during the years of His public ministry, as well as in the events leading up to His death.  Recall how Christ experienced misunderstanding, rejection and mockery.  The Pharisees and Scribes treated Him with cynicism and disdain.  In His own home town, He was not respected and could not perform miracles there because of the lack of faith in His neighbors.  And especially painful must have been the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter.

Now, if a Christian wishes to live in imitation of Christ, he or she can expect to follow this similar path.  In a world where Christian values are so often challenged and repudiated, we encounter increasing hostility in our efforts to uphold and guard these values.  This is especially true in your pro-life work, which requires persistence and patience, and involves such strong opposition.  The Church thanks each and every one of you for your constant struggle to be faithful, despite so many difficulties.

Daily self-giving and renunciation can only be achieved with a generous heart.  There are many ministries within the Church, but few meet with such hostility in the secular world as the pro-life ministry.  You deal with sensitive issues which require both a deep sense of compassion and strong conviction.  Your work requires you to face constantly a harsh reality that can drain the human spirit: the destruction of innocent human beings and the increasing disregard for weaker and more vulnerable individuals in our society, including the disabled, the elderly, and the sick.  And yet, despite these realities, if you are to be successful in your work, and in spreading the message, you must maintain a high level of enthusiasm and Christian hope.

In the first reading, we see the bright and energetic exhortation of Saint Paul to the early Christian community in Corinth.  He tells them: AEach must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.@  Daily commitment is difficult.  Daily fidelity is under attack in our culture, which subtly promotes the path of least resistance.  Virtue is mocked and downplayed.  Commitment is avoided or, if taken up, is often abandoned once things become uncomfortable or difficult. 

Those of us in the pro-life movement know how the attacks against life have increased rapidly in the past year.  There are greater challenges to the effort to restore legal protection for the unborn, as we deal with an Administration and Congress that support so-called abortion Arights.@  It is easy to feel discouraged when we cannot see if our efforts bear fruit.  In the face of such overwhelming odds, we ask then: How do we move forward?

3.  Yes, we are in a cultural battle and we face much opposition.  We may be so absorbed in the rapid deterioration of life values in so much of the media and public policy that we are tempted to lose heart.  We fight on with our message, but at times it can appear as an exhausted fight.  Much like a soldier, sinking in the mud, losing hope, fighting more, simply to survive rather than to conquer. 

Dear friends, now is the time to realize the beauty of your pro-life work and the power inherent in it: to remember the splendor of the truth of your message and the importance of your contribution.  A person can be attacked so many times that he can begin to lose his bearings, his determination, that inner spark.  In the face of these temptations we repeat with Saint Paul: AFor this we toil and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God@ (1 Timothy 4:10).  And with Saint Paul we say resolutely: ANo, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loves us@ (Romans 8: 37).

The pro-life movement emphasizes and upholds the essential dignity of every human being.  We do not only say Ano@ to attacks on innocent human life, but we say Ayes@ in affirming the dignity of each person.  The pro-life message is a message that is positive to the core.  As pro-life leaders, you are called to model this respect and reverence for life in a special way.  This is what you must give to others; this is what you must teach others. 

The profound awareness of the sacredness of each human life is what you transmit every day in your various areas of pro-life work.  In your civility and conviction, you engage the public square through your decisive legislative efforts.  In your compassion and clarity, you educate others about the scientific, legal and moral aspects of different life issues.  In your courage and gentleness in pro-life pregnancy centers, maternity homes, hospitals, and retirement homes, you uphold the dignity of each human life.  Through prayer and assistance efforts in your parishes and outside of abortion facilities, you witness to God=s power to change hearts and minds.  And in your generous outreach to those in need of post-abortion healing, you proclaim God=s mercy.

As leaders in the pro-life movement, you possess B to a high degree B a deep awareness of the dignity of each human being.  This a great gift to be cherished, and this is what you must continue to communicate.  Never forget the beauty of this ideal, and strive always to transmit it to others in your particular area of activity.  This should not merely be your goal; as pro-life leaders, it is also your responsibility.

To keep that vision constantly before our eyes, to remember why we are here and to gain the strength to move forward, we need to maintain our efforts through prayer.  Our efforts must be centered on God and His infinite love for us B for the born and the unborn, for those who oppose us as well as those who agree with us.  Only in this way can we maintain our perspective in a world of political pressures and partisan loyalties.

And so, dear friends, I encourage you to be faithful in your daily self-renunciation and generosity.  Let us not be weary soldiers, looking only for survival.  Let us remember that Awe have set our hope on the living God@!  We go forward in the name of the Lord Jesus, and life will be victorious!

Although the pro-life movement transcends the boundaries of any faith, we ourselves are committed to the cause in the name of the Creator of all life and in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, who in assuming human nature has added even further dignity to all human life.

During these days of the annual pro-life gathering, I hope you will receive practical helps to equip you further in your work.  I hope also that the support you receive from each other will be a great motivation to continue with renewed vigor in your generous and tireless dedication to the pro-life cause.  And I hope that you can spend time in prayer, most especially before the Blessed Sacrament.

In conclusion let us entrust to our Blessed Mother, the Mother of life, the great project of building a culture of life.  Through her intercession may we be ever more effective in respecting, protecting, loving and serving life - every human life!  And may we thus be, in every sphere, heralds of human dignity, promoting Ajustice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness@ for everyone in our society, from conception until natural death.  Amen.