Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you. (Phil 4:8-9)
Today is Respect Life Sunday. The theme for this year is “Each of us is a masterpiece of God’s creation.”
So we are.
If you think about it, there are billions of people in this world. Not one of us is alike. No matter how “identical” some people may be, they have many differences that make them unique. And every one of them, every one of us, is a great gift from God.
If we think further, we realize that there are millions of people who have never been given a chance to live. The great gift that they are has been deprived to the world because of crimes against life.
We have many evils in our world: poverty, illnesses of all kinds, social unrest.
Who is to say that God had not created a person who was going to cure cancer or end poverty or bring the peoples of the world to peace only to have those gifts lost because those unique, wonderful gifts from God were not allowed to be born.
We have heard the phrase that we respect life “from womb to tomb.” It must be that way. The unborn as well as the frail elderly should all be given the right to live until God calls them to Himself. For, the more we deprive them of their right to life, the more our own life becomes in jeopardy.
When we give ourselves over to death, we become people who no longer care about the rights of others. When we embrace life, we care for everyone. Everyone. All those yet to be born as well as all those who grace our world.
We are God’s masterpieces. Let us not jeopardize a single one of His gifts.
FAITH ACTION: Pray fervently this day that our country and our world may break free from a culture of death and once again espouse a culture of life.