Bishop Patrick J. Zurek's Homily at the annual Respect Life Mass

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Mass for Peace and Justice
 
“Man cannot attain that true happiness for which he yearns with all the strength of his spirit, unless he keeps the laws which the Most High God has engraved in his very nature.” (Blessed Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, # 31, July 25, 1968)
 
With these words Blessed Pope Paul VI ended what Pope Francis calls one of five bench-mark encyclicals that Paul VI issued during his pontificate, Humanae Vitae. This year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of this encyclical. Its theme was the use of artificial birth-control.
 
“Responsible Men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards; especially among the young, who are so exposed to temptation. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man may forget the reverence due to a woman.” (Blessed Paul VI, # 17a)
 
The theological principle operative here is that the Unitive and the Procreative aspects of the loving act cannot be separated without violating the will of God the Father. “Human life is sacred; all men must recognize that fact.” (Blessed Paul VI, # 13) As St. Pope John XXIII taught: “From the very moment of conception the creative hand of God is revealed and manifest.” (St. Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra: AAS 53, 1961)
 
Hence, Pope Paul VI wrote:
“Artificial birth-control, or any action, either before, at the moment of, or after relations, direct sterilization and the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, above all, all direct abortion, even therapeutic abortion, is intrinsically evil and thus not permitted.” (Blessed Pope Paul VI, # 13)
 
Each of these procedures either deny, frustrate or directly defy the presence and creative divine power of God active in conception and gestation. Man does not have absolute dominion over his body! The procreation of new human life is God’s work; man and woman are the instruments of this new creation.
 
All that I have said up to this point is revealed in the Reading from the Prophet Isaiah.
 
“The Lord called me from birth…from my mother’s womb He gave me my name.  Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as His servant from the womb. And I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord.” ( Is. 49:1a, 5a,c, 6c-d)
 
We truly are God’s creation, his handiwork.  Of all creation, only man and woman bear the image of God in our being. Only man is gifted with intelligence and free will. Further John in his First Letter boldly proclaims, “God is love!” (1 Jn. 4:8)  This is the theological basis for the teachings of Blessed Paul VI in Humanae Vitae.
 
Love is everything.  Last Sunday’s refrain for the Psalm was “Teach me your ways, O Lord.”  (Ps. 25:4a)  Yes, we have Ten Commandments; however Jesus summarized the entire law into only two. 
 
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:37-39)
 
Lest we have a diluted sense of this love, let me remind you of how profound Jesus intended this love to be: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn. 13:34)  Remember, He was “Lifted-Up on the Cross.” (Jn. 12:32)  His love was total gift of self for the benefit of others…us…you and me! 
 
Love is sacrificial! Priestly ministry is sacrificial; so is the diaconal ministry. Is Marriage any different? Of course not! Christian living is also sacrificial.  Then, what about discipline? Obedience? Narcissism? Humility?
 
St. Paul says that Jesus was obedient unto death, even death on a Cross.  We are called to the same obedience to the Will of the Father, just like Jesus. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus undergoes a passion…an agony when praying in the Garden the night before He died. Prayer and intimacy with the Father gave Him the human strength to endure the Cross. Jesus is with us also!
 
Jesus was disciplined by Jewish Law to yield to the Way of Life that gives direction, Grace and power to realize and live the great command of Love. 
 
Jesus humbled Himself and condescended to earth in human flesh to concretely manifest God’s love for us.
 
Jesus is the quintessence of Love; hence, not a speck of narcissism was found in Him.  He was not moved by earthly fads or customs. 
 
Abortion is evil. It is egregiously evil…intrinsically evil. It is totally against God’s Will. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!” (Jn. 14:6)  Also, in the Book of Wisdom, the author writes:  “God did not create death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living. For He fashioned all things that they might have life…”  (Wis. 1:13-14a)
 
In his First Letter St. John writes; “We should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he do this?  Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother, righteous.”  (1 Jn. 3:12)
 
Abortion, without a doubt, is the most grievous sin; for one, it is the killing of the most vulnerable and defenseless being, for another, the one called to conceive, nurture and sustain life, does the evil act and it is so evil, because “Once human life is snuffed-out, it can never be recuperated!”  It is gone for ever! (St. John Paul II, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Rome)
 
One more thing makes an abortion so evil and sinful!  It takes human life and treats it like a Commodity…something that can just be tossed out and forgotten. Blessed Pope Paul VI warned of this and feared this. He said, “Human life will become a thing, something that can be used and then forgotten or tossed out…or even worse, something that can be purchased and even sold!” (Bl. Paul VI, General Audience, 1968-69)
 
“The Human Person of today no longer knows who he is.” He is no longer aware that his dignity as a person does not depend on anything that he or she does. It is innate and exists from conception to natural death. Yet “man exhausts himself trying to do good deeds” in order to prove his dignity. (Pope Francis, Address to the Plenary Meeting of the Congregation for the Faith, Vatican City, January 26, 2018)
 
Hence, man must be reminded of his “Transcendent Vocation and the inseparable connection that exists between reason, and truth and goodness, which introduces a person to Faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing can open man’s mind like the light that comes from the Holy Spirit to help him to know and understand himself and the design that God has for man in the world.” (Ibid, Pope Francis)
 
“Man has a daily tendency to revert to neo-Pelagionism and neo-Gnosticism with such a deep sense of Individualism that he thinks he can achieve salvation by his own power and force…by his own actions.  We Christians, however, believe that salvation comes through communion with the Risen Christ, and the Grace of the Holy Spirit that introduces us to a profound relationship with the Father.”  (Ibid, Pope Francis)
 
Brothers and Sisters, let us pray for the Conversion of the culture in which most of the world now lives. It is a darkness that is in need of much Grace. It is a culture that is in need of conversion. It does not yet know God. It does not know true love.  It lacks truth; hence the ones who had an abortion are not free. Yet, God is merciful.  Let judgment be His for these mothers. The Innocents are probably beholding the face of God now. So to us, John simply says:
 
“Children, let us love not in word or speech but in, deed and truth.” (1 Jn.  3:18)
 
Finally, these unborn children have become martyrs for Christ…just like the Holy Innocents of King Herod’s time. They were in the world, living beings, in the house of their mother’s womb. They never felt the warmth of the sun. They never experienced light. Yet, like Jesus, these innocents “testify to the light”, to Jesus. (Jn. 1:7-8) These innocents have, in their own mystical way, become lights to the world.  They testify to love…the love that God has for us…the love God intends for us to have for one another. Jesus was not received with a great welcome. These innocents have not been welcomed either. However “Jesus came to what was His own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept Him, He gave power to become children of God.”  (Jn. 1:11-12) These Innocents are “Children of God.” (Jn. 3:2)
 
/X/Most Reverend Patrick J. Zurek
Bishop of Amarillo
Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice
St. Mary’s Cathedral
Amarillo, Texas
January 27, 2018