Live the Gospel of Life

My Dear Parishioners,

Starting next weekend (October 3, 4) we will be implementing our new times for Confession and Mass.  Please note that Confessions will be on Saturday from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. and the Vigil Mass will be 5:00 p.m.  Sunday Masses will be at 7:30, 9:30, and 11:30 a.m.  Next Sunday, October 4^th is the Church’s feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  In honor of St. Francis, St. Joseph Church will be hosting our annual Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, October 4^th at 1:00 p.m.  Please bring your leashed animals to the grassy area between the two back parking lots for a brief prayer service and blessing.  Please be sure to keep at least 6 feet between families and also wear your masks.

October is annually observed as Respect Life Month in Catholic Churches across our nation. The theme this year is: Live the Gospel of Life. What follows is 2020-2021 reflection from the respectlife.org website from the US Bishops.

Twenty-five years ago, Pope St. John Paul II wrote that the Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ saving message to the world (Evangelium vitae 1). In taking on human flesh, dwelling among us, and sacrificing his very life for our redemption, Christ reveals the profound dignity of every human person. This God-given dignity does not change with our stage of life, abilities, level of independence, or any other varying circumstance.

Rather, it is rooted in the permanent fact that each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, created to share in the very life of God himself. The human person is a “manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory” (EV 34). And we must reflect this truth in how we act and how we treat one another.

The truth of the Gospel of life is at the foundation of who we are as followers of Christ. In his earthly life, Jesus provided the perfect model for how we are to love our neighbor and live out the Gospel call: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt. 25:40).

Jesus calls each of us to “care for the other as a person for whom God has made us responsible” (EV 87). The Gospel of life is intrinsic to the whole Christian life and foundational to the decisions we make on a daily basis. For, “the Gospel of God’s love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel” (EV 2, emphasis added).

In his encyclical on the Gospel of life, Pope St. John Paul II recognizes the full range of threats against human life, from poverty and malnutrition to murder and war. He places particular emphasis, however, on threats to life at its beginning and end—precisely when it is most in need of protection. In modern times, children in their mothers’ wombs and those approaching the end of their lives are certainly among the “least of these” in our world’s estimation.

Practices such as abortion and assisted suicide tragically reject the truth that human life is always to be cherished and defended with loving concern.

As the Church celebrates the 25^th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s prophetic encyclical, let us reflect on how we personally live out the Gospel: Do I talk about and act towards others as I would talk about and treat Jesus himself? Do I inform myself of the Church’s teachings and engage in the civic arena as first a follower of Christ? Do I support and advocate for laws and policies that protect and defend human life? Do I help pregnant and parenting mothers in need? Am I ready to support a loved one nearing death?

Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, may Our Lord grant us the grace to truly and courageously live his Gospel of life.

God Bless you,
Fr. Bordonaro