25 minute read
Scripture Readings
Sunday
and a listing of Feast days and saints
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
1 October
Memorial of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the church Job 19:21-27 Luke 10:1-12
Friday
2
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5 Matthew 18:1-5, 10
Saturday
3
Weekday Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 Luke 10:17-24
4
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 4:6-9 Matthew 21:33-43
5
Weekday Galatians 1:6-12 Luke 10:25-37
6
Weekday Galatians 1:13-24 Luke 10:38-42
7
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14 Luke 11:1-4
8
Weekday Galatians 3:1-5 Luke 11:5-13
9
Weekday Galatians 3:7-14 Luke 11:15-26
10
Weekday Galatians 3:22-29 Luke 11:27-28
11
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 25:6-10a Philippians 4:12- 14, 19-20 Matthew 22:1-14
12
Weekday Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31—5:1 Luke 11:29-32
13
Weekday Galatians 5:1-6 Luke 11:37-41
14
Weekday Galatians 5:18-25 Luke 11:42-46
15
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the church Ephesians 1:1-10 Luke 11:47-54
16
Weekday Ephesians 1:11-14 Luke 12:1-7
17
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 12:8-12
18
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b Matthew 22:15-21
19
Memorial of Saints John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, priests and companions, martyrs Ephesians 2:1-10 Luke 12:13-21
25
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Exodus 22:20-26 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10 Matthew 22:34-40
26
Weekday Ephesians 4:32— 5:8 Luke 13:10-17
20
Weekday Ephesians 2:12-22 Luke 12:35-38
21
Weekday Ephesians 3:2-12 Luke 12:39-48
22
Weekday Ephesians 3:14-21 Luke 12:49-53
23
Weekday Ephesians 4:1-6 Luke 12:54-59
27
Weekday Ephesians 5:21-33 Luke 13:18-21
28
Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, apostles Ephesians 2:19-22 Luke 6:12-16
29
Weekday Ephesians 6:10-20 Luke 13:31-35
30
Weekday Philippians 1:1-11 Luke 14:1-6
24
Weekday Ephesians 4:7-16 Luke 13:1-9
31
Weekday Philippians 1:18b26 Luke14:1, 7-11
RESPECT LIFE MONTH October 2020
Poverty and abortion: A vicious cycle
“My boyfriend Jimmy and I had been going from shelter to shelter just to stay warm as winter’s chill coursed through us. I was with Jimmy and pregnant.” – Anna*
“On several occasions we had to deal with homelessness. I can remember sleeping on a park bench and sleeping at bus stops … In 2009, I discovered I was pregnant, with my daughter Mia. And prior to being pregnant with her I had been pregnant before. I had an abortion … So this time around I wanted to do things the right way. I wanted to choose life.” – Jacqueline*
Anna and Jacqueline* describe a plight that is too common. If anything, surveys indicate that low-income women are more against abortion than other women. Yet economic realities pressure many to act against their convictions. This has been a disturbing reality for a long time, and is getting worse.
In a 2005 study, 73 percent of women undergoing an abortion said not being able to afford a baby now was a reason for the abortion. That number rose to 81 percent for women below the federal poverty line.
And while the abortion rate for American women declined by 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, among poor American women it increased by 18 percent.
Economic pressure and government abortion policy can combine to make things worse. One study found that poor women on Medicaid had twice the abortion rate of other women in their state. If the state’s Medicaid program paid for elective abortions, their abortion rate was more than four times that of other women. By offering “free” abortions, the government effectively places its thumb on the scale to favor death for the unborn child. By contrast, if these programs continue funding care for mothers and babies but stop funding abortion, abortions among women in the program decrease by as much as 35 percent.
For many years, policymakers have debated whether we should reduce abortions by fighting poverty or by passing pro-life laws. The question is misplaced. It is not a matter of either/or, but of both/and. We need to address both poverty and bad abortion policies.
So poverty can lead to an increase in abortions. How does abortion affect poverty?
Here we have to look at a trend called “the feminization of poverty.” Women are more likely than men to be poor, and to be in “deep poverty” (with an income less than half the federal poverty line). U.S. Census Bureau figures show that 5 million more women than men were poor in 2012. Almost 31 percent of households headed by a single woman are below the poverty line, compared to 6 percent of households headed by a married couple. Women head over 80 percent of single-parent households, and almost half of children living with only their mother are poor. So poverty in America is often a story of poor women and children, with no man in the house.
Some social observers once thought legalized abortion would solve this problem. If single poor women had access to abortion, they could avoid the hardships of trying to raise a child alone without resources. But after more than 40 years of legalized abortion, out-of-wedlock births have increased, and the plight of poor women has worsened.
Beginning in the 1990s, groundbreaking research has found that the “technology shock” of widely available contraception and abortion has increased out-of-wedlock births. Previously, it was widely accepted that an unexpected pregnancy out-of-wedlock should lead a man to offer marriage.
Once contraception and abortion became widespread, the same pregnancy came to be seen as the woman’s responsibility – and as her problem. The man’s obligation can end with an offer to pay for abortion; if the woman refuses, she often soon finds herself to be a single mother. Today over 40 percent of births are out-ofwedlock.
What if the woman does have the abortion? Besides suffering from psychological and spiritual burdens as an individual, she may find that the abortion has poisoned her relationships. The rate of marital breakups and relationship dissolution after an abortion is said to be between 40 and 75 percent, often related to a breakdown of intimacy and trust. And that often leaves women a
alone to care for themselves and any other children. In fact, sixty percent of abortions are performed on women who already had one or more children.
Marriage has been called “America’s greatest weapon against child poverty.” By the same token, anything that disrupts lasting relationships undermines the ability of women and men to join together to make a promising future for themselves and their children. In short, poverty can lead to abortion, and abortion can lead to more poverty.
Pope Francis has seen a deeper link between the poor and the unborn. They are both among the first victims of a “throw-away society,” an attitude that sees people as disposable when they do not serve the selfish interests of those with more power.
In Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis rededicated the church to solidarity with the poor and marginalized, including women who are “doubly poor” because they endure “situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence.” He added: “Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us.” To those who would abandon the unborn in order to be more “progressive,” he insisted: “It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.” He went on to say that
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not enough has been done “to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life After more than 40 years of legalized abortion, out-of-wedlock births have increased, and the plight of poor women has worsened. developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty” opening (nos. 212-14). our homes to a pregnant In defending unborn children, whom Mother Teresa called “the poorest of the poor,” we resist a “survival of the woman in need. And we can all help encourage our government and other fittest” attitude that ignores the needy institutions to support life. They must – including poor women, many of whom always aid and support mothers and feel pressure to undergo abortions. And children, and never offer to pay for the in standing for the needs of the poor, destruction of life as a “solution” to we oppose a mentality that treats the challenges women face. The call to the very lives of some human beings – any human being, from conception to natural death – as unimportant or uphold women’s dignity and well-being, and that of their unborn children, is burdensome. one and the same.
Anna and Jacqueline were fortunate. * Names have been changed to protect They found a network of church support the privacy of those mentioned. that provides material, emotional (Reprinted (excerpted) from Respect and spiritual support for women with Life Program, copyright © 2014, unintended pregnancies. Thousands United States Conference of Catholic of pregnancy centers throughout the country provide such help every day, assuring women in crisis that they and Bishops, Washington, D.C. Excerpts from Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of their unborn children really matter. the Gospel). © 2013 Libreria Editrice
We should support these centers Vaticana. Used with permission. All and consider volunteering for them or rights reserved.) BC
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RESPECT LIFE MONTH October 2020
Serving moms in need: Living ‘The Gospel of Life’
On March 25, 2020, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the church celebrated the 25th anniversary of the papal encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life). This prophetic document, written by Pope St. John Paul II, reaffirmed the church’s constant teaching on the value and inviolability of every human life.
In this encyclical, the Holy Father explains that The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus’ saving message to the world. Through the Incarnation of Christ, God reveals to us the dignity of all human life. Each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, reflecting his glory and his imprint. We are therefore called to “respect, defend and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life.”
The Gospel of Life highlights the special and particular role of women in bearing the gift of life to the world. St. John Paul II offers heartfelt thanks to these “heroic mothers,” who, placing their trust in God, “devote themselves to their own family without reserve, who suffer in giving birth to their children and who are ready to make any effort, to face any sacrifice, in order to pass on to them the best of themselves.”
St. John Paul II also outlines the many challenges that expectant mothers may face, including lack of support from the father, financial strains, concerns about her own health or that of her child, and pressures from family and friends. The Holy Father recognized that an “unborn child is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying him or her in the womb.” For this reason, it is particularly important that the church come alongside mothers, offering them encouragement, assistance and support.
Through Christ, we have received the gift of The Gospel of Life in its fullness. As members of the church, we are the people of life and for life. It is our duty to proclaim the truth of the Gospel of Life to the world, for “to proclaim Jesus is itself to proclaim life.” Pope St. John Paul II tasked us with building a culture of life to combat the forces at work in the culture of death. He challenged us: “With great openness and courage, we need to question how widespread is the culture of life today among individual Christians, families, groups and communities in our dioceses. With equal clarity and determination, we must identify the steps we are called to take in order to serve life in all its truth.”
In honor of The Gospel of Life’s 25th anniversary and in answer to St. John Paul II’s call, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on ProLife Activities launched a nationwide effort beginning March 25, 2020, entitled: “Walking with Moms in Need: A Year of Service.” Parishes, through the support of their bishops and pastors, are invited to join this effort to increase the church’s outreach and support to pregnant women facing difficult or challenging pregnancies. This special anniversary year provides the church with an opportunity to assess, expand, and better communicate resources to pregnant moms and families in need.
Pregnant and parenting moms in need are in our parishes and our neighborhoods, but in desperation, they are turning to other places for help. We know the needs and challenges can be immense for women in difficult pregnancies, a
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especially women in poverty, and the sources for help may not be apparent to those most needing support. Women facing challenging pregnancies should see the church as a place where they can find help, especially with its extensive social services dedicated to meeting the needs of people in crisis.
Through the Year of Service, the church is being asked to respond to St. John Paul II’s call and honestly assess the pastoral and practical assistance that it currently provides to pregnant moms and families in need and how effective it is in communicating such help.
St. John Paul II wrote that, “gratitude and joy at the incomparable dignity of man impel us to share (the Gospel of life) with everyone.”
He said we need to bring this message “to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society.” By reaching out to lovingly support and care for pregnant women and their children, we witness to the sanctity of every human person, in every stage and every circumstance.
The Gospel of Life emphasizes that, “where life is involved, the service of charity must be profoundly consistent. It cannot tolerate bias and discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable ... We need then to ‘show care’ for all life and for the life of everyone.” St. John Paul II highlights the incredible history of service and charity that the church has provided throughout the centuries to those abandoned and forgotten by society. He urges that “every Christian community, with a renewed sense Pregnant and parenting moms in need are in our parishes and our neighborhoods, but in desperation, they are turning to other places for help. of responsibility, must continue to write this history.” We are called to reverence and love every human person as ourselves. It is our responsibility to care for and protect human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable among us. The Gospel of Life teaches us that “the task of accepting and serving life providing educational, pastoral, and action-oriented resources to help parishes go to the peripheries and bring hope and help to mothers in need. Through the combined efforts of parishes nationwide, we hope to involves everyone; and this task must move closer to the day when every be fulfilled above all towards life when pregnant mother in need knows where it is at its weakest.” to turn for help, and abortion is simply
St. John Paul II wrote that “the unthinkable. Visit WalkingWithMoms. Gospel of God’s love for man, the com to learn more and pledge to walk Gospel of the dignity of the person with mothers in need. and the Gospel of life are a single and (Excerpts from Evangelium vitae indivisible Gospel.” The Gospel of Jesus © 1995, Libreria Editrice Vaticana. is the Gospel of Life, and to love Jesus Used with permission. All rights is to love and serve life. As followers of reserved. Copyright © 2020, United Christ, may we strive to continually States Conference of Catholic Bishops, respond to the needs of the poor and Washington, DC. All rights reserved. vulnerable entrusted to us by God. Reprinted (excerpted) from Respect Life
For this Year of Service, the USCCB Program © 2020, USCCB, Washington, Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities is D.C. All rights reserved.) BC
Our Lady of the Rosary Church Larose, LA
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October: Respect LIFE Month Our community welcomes and respects EVERY human life, born and unborn.
RESPECT LIFE MONTH October 2020
Serene attentiveness to God’s creation Pope Francis reminds us ‘everything is connected’
When we fall in love, become parents, or enter into any significant relationship, it is not uncommon to experience a shift in worldview that shapes our actions.
Consider parents holding their first newborn son or daughter. While there is no instruction manual for all the possible circumstances they may encounter, their guiding framework is the loving, parental relationship with their child. With his encyclical Laudato si’, Pope Francis invites us to understand more deeply our relationships with God, one another, and the rest of creation, and to live accordingly. “Everything is connected,” he reminds us (LS 91).
God uses creation to bring us into loving relationship with himself, most notably through the sacraments. We experience this most powerfully in the Eucharist, the true body and blood of Christ, received under the appearance of bread and wine, where “all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation” (LS 236). God invites us to embrace creation on this deeper level through our worship of himself (LS 235). Our relationship with Christ—strengthened by receiving him worthily in holy Communion—helps us understand our relationships with one another and with creation.
Pope Francis warns against placing ourselves “at the center,” thinking we don’t need God and lacking concern for other creatures (LS 122, 68-69). But he also rejects the view that “the presence of human beings on the planet should be reduced and all forms of intervention prohibited” (LS 60). The Holy Father affirms, instead, that human beings possess “a particular dignity above other creatures” and share a distinct responsibility for the world entrusted to us (LS 119, 242). When any of our relationships are out of balance— with God, one another, or the rest of creation—all our relationships suffer.
We see evidence of this imbalance on a large scale today. Building upon the teaching of his predecessors, the Holy Father discusses in great detail the disrepair apparent in creation. Our distorted relationship with God has infected our relationship with the earth, evidenced by pollution, lack of clean water, toxic waste, and immense material waste. For example, “approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and ‘whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor’” (LS 50).
What the Holy Father often calls a “culture of waste” or a “throwaway culture” even goes so far as to see and treat human life as disposable. The elderly are marginalized, and the lives of persons with disabilities are deemed less worth living (LS 123). The fundamental truth that “the inalienable worth of a human being transcends his or her degree of development” is forgotten—leading to the destruction of unwanted babies in the womb and experimentation on embryonic children in the lab (LS 136, 123). Sometimes, even efforts to alleviate the suffering of certain populations lead to offenses against human life. Pope Francis warns, for example, against international pressure which makes the promotion of contraception, abortion and other harmful practices a condition for economic aid.
At times, efforts seeking to protect the environment and other creatures disregard or even attack the a
“Let the children come to me, do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. Mark 10:14
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particular dignity of human beings. Although we are called to care for creation, the Holy Father makes clear that this approach is not only inconsistent, it “compromises the very meaning of our struggle for the sake of the environment” (LS 91).
Quoting Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Charity in Truth, Pope Francis explains further: Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away” (LS 120).
Pope Francis isn’t endorsing a secular environmentalism—he has a broader idea in mind—one that echoes the sentiments of another predecessor, Pope St. John Paul II. In his 1990 World Day of Peace message, the great saint reminded us that “no peaceful society can afford to neglect either respect for life or the fact that there is an integrity to creation” (7). He later addressed Catholics directly, reminding us of our “serious obligation to care for all of creation” (16). If we are filled with the love of God, a culture of encounter and solidarity will begin to bloom. Pope Francis stresses, “We are speaking of an attitude of the Our relationship with Christ—strengthened by receiving him worthily in holy Communion— helps us understand our relationships with one another and with creation. heart, one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable of being fully present to someone without The annual Life Chains in the thinking of what comes next” (LS 226). Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux will With this attitude of heart, we neither be held on Respect Life Sunday, treat other humans as disposable, nor neglect to care for God’s creation at any level. Through a conversion of heart, October 4, 2020, from 2–3 p.m. (rain or shine). This is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life Americans standing for one hour repairing our relationships with God, praying for our nation and for an one another, and all of creation, we end to abortion. can combat the many pollutants that Those participating in the Houma poison our hearts and our world. Life Chain will line the median of (Excerpts from Laudato si’ (Care for Our Common Home) © 2015 and Tunnel Boulevard in Houma. The Lockport Life Chain participants will line Hwy. 1 (Crescent “Message of His Holiness Pope John Avenue) in Lockport. Participants Paul II for the Celebration of the are invited to gather at Town Hall at World Day of Peace” © 1990, Libreria 1:45 p.m. Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used The Thibodaux Life Chain with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016, United States participants will line the median of Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux. Join with other pro-life Christians to Conference of Catholic Bishops, make a statement to our community Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.) that “Abortion Kills Children.”
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St. Lucy Catholic Church
RESPECT LIFE MONTH October 2020
The prophetic papal encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life) was written by Pope St. John Paul II in 1995 to reaffirm the value and inviolability of every human life and to appeal to all people to respect, protect, love and serve every human life. The following is a brief overview of this important document.
The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus’ saving message to the world. Through the Incarnation and birth of Christ, God reveals to us the dignity of all human life. Human life, as a gift of God, is sacred and inviolable. The Son of God has united himself with every human being and desires for us to share eternal life with him. For this reason, direct attacks on human life, such as abortion and euthanasia, are always unacceptable. Yet, sadly we see new and expanding threats to human life emerging on an alarming scale. These new threats to life are often justified, protected, and even promoted by our laws and culture.
Not only must human life not be taken, but it must be protected with loving concern. Each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, and we reflect his glory in the world. God made the human person with the capacity to love and reason and share in a relationship with the Creator. The human person bears an indelible imprint of God and is the pinnacle of all creation. The source of our dignity is not only linked to our creation by God, but to our final end and destiny to spend eternity with the Father. By accepting Christ as our Savior, despite our sinfulness, we can begin to share in eternal life even now.
Despite the grave threats to human life in the modern world, we, as the People of God, are called to place our faith in Jesus, the “Word of life” (1 John 1:1). As Christians, we have received the full truth about human life as proclaimed by the very person of Jesus. In sharing in the lowliest and most vulnerable conditions of human life—even death on a cross—Jesus shows us that life is always good. The true meaning of our lives is found in giving and receiving love. It is only through this understanding of a sincere gift of self that human sexuality and procreation reach their true and full significance.
God holds the lives of all people in his gentle and loving care, giving meaning and value to any sufferings that we may bear. Despite the mystery which surrounds suffering and death, they can become saving events as we unite them with Christ’s sacrifice. Truly great must be the value of human life if the Son of God has made it the instrument of our salvation.
While the roots of violence against life go all the way back to Genesis, when Cain took the life of his brother Abel, our modern world is suffering under a culture of death. Scientific and technological advances and an increasingly secularized world have led to an eclipse of the value of human life. However, respect for life requires that science and technology should always be at the service of the human person and his integral development. We must reject systems of structuralized sin which value efficiency and productivity over human persons.
Governments and international institutions promote abortion and euthanasia as marks of progress and freedom. But this is a false and perverse understanding in which freedom is equated with absolute individualism. True freedom is inherently relational, recognizing that God has a
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entrusted us to one another. As cultures and societies fail to recognize these objective truths, everything becomes relative and all principles are called into question—even the fundamental right to life. However, the blood of Christ’s sacrifice remains our constant hope. Christ’s gift of himself on the cross reveals how precious life truly is and gives us the strength to commit ourselves to building a culture of life. Christ’s blood, shed for us, promises that in God’s plan death will be no more, and life will be victorious.
Society as a whole must respect, defend and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life. Our lives are a gift from God and ultimately belong to him. He has sole authority over life and death. We are therefore called to reverence and love every human person, loving our neighbors as ourselves. It is our responsibility to care for and protect human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable among us.
Having received the gift of the Gospel of Life, we are the people of life and a people for life. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of Life to the world. To proclaim Jesus is to proclaim life itself. Gratitude and joy at the incomparable dignity of the human person impel us to bring the Gospel of life to the hearts of all people and make it penetrate every part of society. In every child which is born and in every person who lives or dies we see the image of God’s glory. We celebrate this glory in every human being, a sign of the living God, an icon of Jesus Christ. (Cf. Evangelium vitae © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Summary comprised of quotes and adaptations used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2020, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Reprinted (excerpted) from Respect Life Program © 2020, USCCB, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.) BC
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