40 Days for Life – 2020 Closing Rally – Solemnity of All Saints
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ. You have faithfully endured one of the wettest campaigns in memory. On this great feast of All Saints, whom we emulate with our prayers and sacrifices, I want to thank each of you who have participated in this campaign – those who came here to the site, those who stayed at home to pray and those who spent time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Your prayers are having a great effect on the defense of innocent unborn children.
Many advances have been made, especially south of the border. Wanda has given me up to 15 minutes to talk this evening, so I will speak about two issues that are quite pressing for the Church: 1) the confusion about Pope Francis’ words on same-sex unions, 2) the case of Mary Wagner.
In these past days, the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of the family and marriage has come into question because of misquotes by the media. However, this is not the first time Pope Francis has stirred confusion by speaking on sensitive issues without clarifying its meaning. Archbishop Terrence was quoted in the citizen yesterday and spoke of the need for a pastor to clarify anything he says that may have caused confusion. We know that His Holiness has spoken in the past against the acceptance of same-sex unions, but the question remains, “has he somehow changed his position, and will the Church allow it?” The short answer is no. It is impossible for the Church to alter what God has revealed to us both in Scripture and Divine revelation.
For me, this situation is reminiscent of the Winnipeg Statement which was intended to clarify Humanae Vitae but instead sowed nothing but confusion for the laity. No one should need 6 credits in moral theology to understand a clarification. We clergy must always remember that our formation was not intended for personal edification but so that we can explain to the laity, with clarity, what God has revealed.
I think it is important for everyone to understand why same-sex unions go against God’s plan for the family and marriage. Rather than bore you with Canon Law and other dogmatic teachings, I have prepared a little theological thesis to explain the foundations of the Church’s teaching on family and marriage, but it must begin with an understanding of the concept of the Most Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a subject that many would rather just leave alone because it can be a hard concept to grasp; but if we are to properly understand God’s design and His plan for the family and humanity, it is important to know. So here goes. It might be a little deep, but I don’t know how to make it any simpler and clearer. You’ll need to pay attention: I think that God is telling us, "If you want to know Me, seek to understand the nature of Love." In the 1st letter of John it tells us very clearly that ‘God is Love’, and continues, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.”
So, if you were to ask yourself what we actually know and understand about the fundamentals of love, you would have to admit that ‘love by its very nature is something that must be shared’. Knowing this is how we can come to understand the Holy Trinity. If love is something that must be shared, then God the Father cannot stand alone, He cannot keep to himself and ‘be’ God. A single inward love would be a contradiction to what we know of love. So, we know that for all eternity His Son and the Holy Spirit must have existed in Him and with Him. This is why we proclaim the Divinity of Jesus in our Creed, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.” And with the Holy Spirit, our creed says, “Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
Now, if God’s love must be shared, it must also be shared perfectly, it must be a true and perfect image, or reflection, of Himself for that love, that sharing to be complete. Therefore, the Holy Trinity is a community of perfect love. The Father is the head of the Trinity, but none are subordinate to one another. They are of one mind, one purpose, and one likeness, which is love; but at the same time, three distinct persons with different complimentary roles. Important to note, that even in that instant when Jesus took on the sins of the world and was momentarily separated from the Godhead, the Father and the Holy Spirit remained united in a perfect, reciprocating love with one another. So, the refection of perfect love remained intact. This would point to the necessity of the third person of the Trinity, but importantly, it also shows that the Father knew that we would fall to sin but whose plan for our salvation existed for all eternity. So, at some point of their eternal existence, they decided to share their love by creating the universe and us – human beings created in their image and likeness. And if, in their image and likeness, then created for love just as He is love, and to share that love. So, the entire universe was created for the sole purpose of supporting us and making it so perfect and beautiful that it would leave us in complete awe and wonderment of our creator. When we gaze upon its beauty and meditate on it, it draws us closer to our creator. And looking up at the stars can we not hear God say, “I love you. This is all for you?” God’s love is perfect, and he cannot love imperfectly. He loves each and every one of us perfectly. So, if someone were to say that God loves so and so less than someone else, it would be an insult to God. It is an impossibility. In fact, if you were the last person on earth, all of creation would continue to exist for you alone.
So, in time, when the heavens and the earth were just right, God filled the earth, air and sea with His creatures. Finally, He created the pinnacle of His creation, Adam. God, then, brought all these creatures to Adam to name and to have dominion over them. But unfortunately, none of those creatures had the capacity to Love Adam as he could love. His heart cried out for a suitable partner; one that could reciprocate his love equally just as the Holy Trinity love one another equally. So, God created Eve. As Jesus proceeded from the Father, so Eve proceeds from Adam. Scripture says that God took a rib from Adam and with it, made Eve. Actually, the Hebrew text uses the word ‘tsela’, which means rib, but can also mean ‘the side’. It would be more accurate to suggest that Eve came from the side of Adam and not just the rib, but the flesh as well. How else could Adam say, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh?”
It is also important to note that Eve came from his side, to show partnership, that they would stand side-by-side; not from his head or from his leg which might indicate a higher or lower created form. Instead, it was God’s intent to show that one emerged from the other as equals just as the Son and Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father equally, without subordination, and as a complementary partnership. This is why our faith tells us that in the Sacrament of marriage they become one flesh united by God – an ontological union that must not be separated. And, we can say, metaphorically, that just as the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son, so our children come from a loving union of Mother and Father. Then, when our children are a little older, and see their mother and father in this loving and complementary union, they will be able to relate their image and likeness to the Most Holy Trinity and be better able to understand our God, who is Love.
None of this is to suggest that those who remain single or who are non-heterosexual are loved less or are less complete as a person. We are created equally, and all share in the image and likeness of God. Even though that image and likeness we share has been disfigured by sin we, nevertheless, have been created with equal dignity. It doesn’t matter what your race, language, social status, disability, level of wealth, sexuality or color might be; to suggest that one part of that shared image is less perfect than another is absurd, an insult to God. We are all deserving of being part of the ‘family’ of God and it is hurtful to our creator for anyone to reject from that family, that which He loves so much. To do so, is to cast judgement on God.
But in all things, it is up to each person to live according to the moral precepts handed down. Do not be persuaded by the moral relativism of this age. Morality originated in the mind of God, was summarized for us in the 10 commandments and is elaborated in Scripture. Following them is what leads to a joyful and peaceful life while living contrary to His laws leads to a tormented, unhappy life.
Can you see the beauty of God’s design? Can you see how same-sex unions is completely contrary to God’s design? Don’t allow snippets in a secular media to direct your beliefs but look to the Gospel for direction. In our second reading today, St. John writes, “The reason the world does not know us is because it did not know Him.” As I mentioned, God loves each of us equally, even the most obstinate sinner, even those who demand a culture of death. Our duty, as pro-lifers is not to condemn, but to correct, with patience. Remember that each person, as long as they are alive, has an equal potential to be a great saint. We must help those who have not yet had a relationship with Christ to achieve that goal. Hone your skills in the art of evangelization using every means at your disposal; because, as long as they do not know God, they will never be able to understand His loving plan for us.
When this campaign is finished, do not stop your prayers, in fact, I am asking you to step them up, especially for the reason I will be mentioning next. Pray with the same desperation you would if your own child’s life was in danger.
Life Site News reported that Eight years after Mary Wagner was arrested in Toronto while trying to save mothers and children from the violence of abortion, her Charter challenge to the Canadian law denying the humanity of the unborn child has reached the Supreme Court of Canada. Mary’s lawyer, Dr. Charles Lugosi, is now seeking leave to appeal Wagner’s challenge of Section 223, of the Criminal Code to the country’s top court. Section 223, states, “A child becomes a human being within the meaning of the Act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother”.
“If we are correct that Section 223 of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional because it exceeds the power of Parliament to decide who is and who is not a human being, then what happens to the question of abortion?” Lugosi pointed out. If the Supreme Court strikes down Section 223, “abortion then reverts to homicide under the definition in the Criminal Code of Canada. … And because it’s planned, because it’s intentional, abortion then becomes the first-degree murder of an innocent human being,” he said. By denying that the unborn child is a human being, Section 223 violates the Charter’s Section 7 guarantee of an individual’s right to “life, liberty and security of person,” and Section 15’s guarantee that: “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law … ”
Just as a footnote, section 223 was constructed from a belief that dates back more than 400 years -- during the time of barber doctors who would bleed people as cure all. Many will tell us, “get with the times and follow the science”. Well, there is not an embryology text in the world that denies the existence of a human being from the moment of conception. So, I say to them, “get with the times, and listen to the science.”
We remember that our laws to protect human life were repealed in 1988, in the Morgentaler trial due to administrative errors in the law. Many, even in the pro-life movement have gone easy on the judges and instead laid blame on parliament for not enacting a law to protect the unborn, but, although many on the top court articulated, in their own, way the need for a law to protect the unborn, they nevertheless deemed the law more important to protect than the human lives the law was originally designed to protect. Human life transcends even the law. What good is the law without life!
This is, without question, the most important case ever before the Supreme Court. We must pray desperately that this case will be heard by the court, and if heard, then its success. It will mean the end of abortion in Canada – we hope! We can’t anticipate how the court’s decision will read, but it is possible the court will find in Wagner’s favor but send it back to parliament for them to construct a new law within a certain period of time. They have done this for similar situations in the past. If that were the case, the pro-life movement nationwide must be ready to lobby each and every member of parliament and produce riding-by-riding petitions.
Wagner and Lugosi are also appealing to all “Canadians of good will” to support the case both materially and spiritually. I ask all Canadians across this great nation and every pro-life organization from coast to coast to back this cause, to put it at the top of the list in terms of importance, to donate what you can and to pray, pray, pray. Holy Mary, Mother of God and all the saints in heaven, pray for us. Pray for Pope Francis and all the Clergy, pray for an end to abortion, and pray for an end to the diabolical Bill C7, an act to expand doctor aided suicide, that is now before parliament. If you need clarification on anything I have spoken of this evening, please email me with your questions. Also, if you need a link to where to donate to the Wagner case, I can provide that as well. My email is easy, deaconcfink@gmail.com May He who has begun a good work in you bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Amen. Deacon Charles (Chuck) Fink Chaplain, 40 Days for Life Committee Coordinator, Permanent Diaconate Ministries Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwa l