Editorial

May we have the courage—and the love—to speak up and stand up for life

Like the month of May, October in our Church is dedicated to our Blessed Mother, particularly to her Holy Rosary.

We also mark October as Respect Life Month, where we especially pray for all life to be respected—from conception to natural death.

The theme this year selected by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is “I came so that they might have life” (Jn 10:10).

Some in our society disagree with the belief that the killing of an unborn child is an unnecessary and tragic occurrence, while others believe assisted suicide and the taking of those lives should be the norm in our world as well. These two life issues are front and center in today’s society.

When we encounter those who do not view all life as a gift from our Creator—and that we are made in God’s image and likeness—we must have the courage to share the truths of our faith and plant seeds that, we pray, convert those hardened and uninformed hearts. We understand that is no easy task, especially when those conversations take place with family, friends and people we love.

But those efforts must extend beyond Respect Life Month, which comes to an end next week.

During the archdiocese’s annual Respect Life Month Mass on Oct. 6 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson reminded those in attendance that dignity begins at conception and ends at natural death, and it involves more than the issue of abortion.

“We do not combat the evils of abortion, divorce, euthanasia, racism, sexism, scapegoating, the death penalty and so many other forms of injustice because we are against certain behaviors or policies,” Archbishop Thompson said during his homily. “We do so because of what we stand for, taking to heart the words of Jesus, ‘I came so that they might have life.’

“This is what motivates our authentic engagement in the various means of advocacy, defense and proclamation of human life.”

As our faith instructs us, prayer must be at the heart of our mission in building a culture of life. For those wondering if our petitions for life are bearing fruit, we can answer with a resounding “Yes!” 40 Days for Life, an international effort that seeks to end abortion through peaceful prayer vigils and to raise community awareness of the consequences of abortion, announced last week that its twice-a-year campaign—initiated in 2007—had resulted in its 25,000th unborn child being saved from abortion in the world!

We thank God for all who have participated across the globe and have planted seeds that have borne fruit.

While the current 40 Days for Life campaign ends on Nov. 3, we encourage all people of faith to continue offering prayers each day that all life be respected from conception to natural death.

Let us take to heart the words shared by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. (who served as Archbishop of Indianapolis from 2012-16), during a statewide Mass for Life on Sept. 26 at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Trenton, N.J., that we live “as witnesses to the Light that shines in darkness, a Light that the darkness can never overcome.”

As we near the end of this month dedicated to our Blessed Mother, may we also remember the message shared by St. John Paul II in his Prayer for Life from his 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae”:

O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
mother of the living.
To you do we entrust the cause of life,
look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
May proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and encourage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life. Amen.

—Mike Krokos