By John Rohlf
The Message assistant editor
Attendees at the Diocese of Evansville’s annual Respect Life Celebration were stressed the need for both sacrifice and human solidarity as part of the pro-life movement.
Bishop Joseph M. Siegel celebrated Mass Oct. 17 at St. Benedict Cathedral for the annual diocesan Respect Life Celebration. Five priests concelebrated the Mass, including Father Jonathan Meyer, who was the keynote speaker at the dinner after Mass. Father Meyer is an ordained priest in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
During his homily at Mass, Bishop Siegel referenced an excerpt from the work of poet John Donne. Bishop Siegel said John Donne was saying in the excerpt that because we all belong to the human family, the death of any man, woman or child is our loss. He said the concept of human solidarity rooted in our central unity of those created in God’s image and likeness is the reason they were gathered for the Respect Life Mass, which gave thanks for the gift of human life.
During his talk in the Woodward Center after Mass, Father Meyer said that for us to be authentically pro-life, there is no love without sacrifice. He believes that in the pro-life cause there is a tendency to focus on presence. They defend the fact that every human being has the presence of God within them and every human being is a child of God with dignity, delight, beauty and worth, Father Meyer said. While this is true, Father Meyer said we need to be in solidarity with each other and bind together as brothers and sisters.
“We need to fight together for the elderly, the unborn, the forgotten, the outcast,” Father Meyer said. “And we need to do it in great community and in great union.”
Father Meyer referenced the ministry being celebrated that evening was Red Bird Ministries, which is a pro-family, pro-life, Catholic ministry for families grieving the loss of a child at any age and circumstance. He stressed pro-life Catholics need to also be willing to endure sacrifice and suffering with people. We as a church and we as Catholics have to be the ones who are willing to sit with, cry with and walk with others, Father Meyer said.
“True love will always involve sacrifice,” Father Meyer said. “And we live in a world right now that doesn’t want sacrifice. We live in a world that is obsessed with comfort. We live in a world that is obsessed with ease. We live in a world that is void of the cross. And no matter what stage of life we want to embrace, no matter what stage of life we want to say is authentically ours as Christians, we have to be willing to endure the cross with those individuals.”
Bishop Siegel said we are fortunate the state of Indiana passed a near ban of abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. However, far too many states have gone in the opposite direction, enshrining abortion rights in their state constitutions.
Bishop Siegel said St. Mother Teresa described abortion as the greatest destroyer of peace in our world. He said these attacks on life are so pervasive that Pope John Paul II called it a Culture of Death. Bishop Siegel stressed the need to seek the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Respect Life Movement. He said we pray that her son may convert the hearts of those who fail to hear the cries of the most weak and defenseless among us and to give us all the strength we so desperately need to transform the Culture of Death into a Culture of Life. Bishop Siegel stressed we can all do something and can make a difference, even if only for one person and one life. This can include working to enact laws to protect the unborn and all those whose lives are threatened; getting involved at crisis pregnancy centers or other programs that help show love for both the unborn child and mother; helping out at a shelter for the homeless, assisting Catholic Charities or parish St. Vincent de Paul Societies; contributing to pro-life causes, supplying items for the food pantry and visiting the sick and elderly in nursing homes; and praying for a greater respect for life.