Choose Life in this World and the Next

Today marks the 41st anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade US Supreme Court decision.  This morning I had the privilege of presiding at a Mass in Topeka, Kansas with hundreds of young people and leaders in the Pro-Life Movement in Kansas.  It was a moving display to see on fire hearts in Kansas gather to be witnesses at the state-level.  As I continue to pray today, I'm struck by the parallels between evangelization and respecting the dignity of every human life.

Mass at the Rally for Life in Topeka, KS

Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium notes:

An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. Evangelizers thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. An evangelizing community is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. Evangelization consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time. Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also bears fruit. An evangelizing community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or incomplete these may appear. The disciple is ready to put his or her whole life on the line, even to accepting martyrdom, in bearing witness to Jesus Christ, yet the goal is not to make enemies but to see God’s word accepted and its capacity for liberation and renewal revealed. Finally an evangelizing community is filled with joy; it knows how to rejoice always. It celebrates every small victory, every step forward in the work of evangelization. Evangelization with joy becomes beauty in the liturgy, as part of our daily concern to spread goodness. The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.

Now read it again with some simple substitutions:

[A Pro-Life] community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. [Pro-Lifers] thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice. [A Pro-Life] community is also supportive, standing by people at every step of the way, no matter how difficult or lengthy this may prove to be. It is familiar with patient expectation and apostolic endurance. [Being Pro-Life] consists mostly of patience and disregard for constraints of time. Faithful to the Lord’s gift, it also bears fruit. [A Pro-Life] community is always concerned with fruit, because the Lord wants her to be fruitful. It cares for the grain and does not grow impatient at the weeds. The sower, when he sees weeds sprouting among the grain does not grumble or overreact. He or she finds a way to let the word take flesh in a particular situation and bear fruits of new life, however imperfect or incomplete these may appear. The [Pro-Lifer] is ready to put his or her whole life on the line, even to accepting martyrdom, in bearing witness to Jesus Christ, yet the goal is not to make enemies but to see God’s word accepted and its capacity for liberation and renewal revealed. Finally [a Pro-Life] community is filled with joy; it knows how to rejoice always. It celebrates every small victory, every step forward in the work of [Respecting Life]. 

Everyone has the right to be born.  Everyone also has the right to be born-again of Water and the Spirit.  The best examples of evangelization and Pro-Life work should look very similar.  May we all be more effective to proclaim the Good News of life in this world and the next.