Pro-Life Homily Sunday, September 2012

Father Jerry Gauvreau C.C

 So, you’ll notice that by looking at this week’s bulletin that there are a couple of pro-life events coming up, so this is probably just as good as any Sunday to talk about abortion and the pro-life movement. Certainly, the readings can tie into all this for sure.

If you look at Campaign Life Coalition’s website they report that: abortion is legal in Canada throughout all 9 months of pregnancy – for any reason

And when you read about the definition of the types of abortion performed, especially what partial-birth abortion is really all about, I don’t know how anyone can still come away and be pro-choice.  Plain and simple, abortion is murder.

Our Catechism, paragraph 2270 very clearly teaches us that: human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person…

This past Friday in the House of Commons, MP Mr. Stephen Woodworth proposed to the members of Parliament a bill commonly referred to as Motion 312 – you may have heard of it last spring – we knew this was coming.

In Motion 312 he urges Members of Parliament to call on a study of when human life begins – If scientific evidence tells us that our legal definition of who is a human being is wrong, is it right for us to ignore it? – He asks  “why would anyone oppose a respectful dialogue to gather evidence on such an important law?”

So, Friday night I called his office and just left him a message supporting him, blessing him, telling him I was praying for him, and thanking him for having the courage to put this Motion forward.

Campaign Life Coalition’s President Mr. Jim Hughes says, “Motion 312 calls for parliament to evaluate an outdated 400-year-old law that denies modern scientific evidence that proves that life begins at conception. My own personal research, over and over and over again, shows that scientific studies have proven that within weeks of Conception a baby’s heart can be detected – in less than 2 months all vital organs are present in the baby which is a real person – not a blob of tissue.

The vote on Motion 312 will be held most likely this coming Wednesday, the Feast of St. Jean de Brebeuf and the Holy Canadian Martyrs – St Jean de Brebeuf had his heart cut out and eaten by the Iroquois, tortured; they saw his courage and they wanted it.

So if the Motion is defeated I would just like Mr. Harper to know as well as all the Members of Parliament that the Pro-Life Movement is not going away – we’re here to stay, we’re in your face – we’re going to be around a lot longer than any of them. The Pro-Life Movement has courage, catch it!

We cannot be silent any longer – it’s time to be Pro-Life in this culture of death – and don’t let anyone tell you to mind our own business, because this is our business – as Christians and as Catholics, the child in the womb is our responsibility.

 ( CC#2270 )  - Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception…

When people in other parts of the world need help, we’re there to help them, when someone in the neighborhood needs help, we’re there, and we try to lend a to hand, just tot last week in Ottawa a concert was held to raise funds for local farmers who were hit hard by the rainless summer – several lost crops – many were there to help them out

If we’re unable help, at least we speak up for them.

Just a few years ago out West a young kid came to the aid of a lady who was being beaten – he took a real beating himself – but he made it his business to get involved - and he made a difference.

A few years ago Archbishop Adam Exner said the same thin : He said it’s time to stop making excuses. It’s time to stop being afraid of what others will think when we stand up for what is right. It’s time to challenge the status quo. It’s time to put our faith into action. It’s time to be Pro-Life in private and in public. A child is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift always to be cherished …

And just this week in the news, I’m not sure if you read about it, but there are a lot of articles about Justin Beiber’s mother. I’m not sure, did anybody hear about her story? She’s come out with a book and she admitted that when she got pregnant with Justin she considered having an abortion.  Everybody told her to. She was 17, a messed up kid, on drugs and alcohol - but in her heart she knew it was wrong – I think in her heart she knew a  child is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift always to be cherished.

And just last year, you might remember Justin himself was asked about abortion and he said “I really don’t believe in abortion – I think the unborn child is a human being” he took a lot of flack for that statement: God bless him.

Fr. Frank Pavone, Founder of Priests’ for Life receivedd a letter one time from a lady who told him that planned parenthood told her that her pregnancy was a blob of tissue as easily removable as a wart. “No one told me I was killing a human being or spoke to me about adoption or single parenting.”

You may have heard the story of an NHL goalie named Justin Pogge.   When his mother became pregnant she was going to jump off a bridge, but she felt her baby kick - and she changed her mind – a lump of tissue does not kick.  A baby is not a problem to be eliminated but a gift from God!

Last May, many of you know I was on a Marian pilgrimage in Medugorje and it was at the same time when we were holding the Pro-Life week here in Ottawa. And during the annual March for Life here in Ottawa - I followed it closely through the internet – but close to 20,000 people participated marching through the streets of Ottawa bringing the Pro-Life message into the very heart of Parliament Hill.

And while in Medugorje, I heard a story, first-hand account from a gentleman who told me how an abortion doctor from the Ukraine visited Medugorje, well you know the only reason she went was because it was a free trip - check things out. So, one day she hikes up apparition hill where Our Blessed Mother is said to have first appeared and when she got up there she looked around, she had a vision of every child’s skull and bones that she had murdered through abortion over the last forty years.

Today, they are bringing more and more doctors over there for retreats; ppro-liferetreats.

In 1990 Mother Teresa  said, “I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion because it’s a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child how can we tell people not to kill one another? “

How do we persuade women not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts, her plans, free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child must do the same.

By abortion the, mother does not learn to love but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put others in the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion¼

Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child. From our children’s home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3000 children from abortion. These children have brought such love and joy to their adoptive parents and have grown up so full of love and joy.

In one homily I heard one time on the evils of abortion the priest was saying how every time he hears a baby cry - he thinks - there’s one less aborted child – so moms and dads if your child is having a bad hair day so to speak  – that’s cool!

Archbishop Fulton Sheen has a very powerful prayer that we can all pray each day and it is:  Jesus Mary and Joseph – I love you very much - I beg you to spare the life of the pre-born child that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.

Pope Paul VI taught us that each and every marriage act must be open to the transmission of life.

JPII use to tell us that: a Nation that kills its own is a Nation without hope.

I plead with you today not to let yourself be deceived

From the very beginning of Genesis, we have been deceived by the devil – his only job is to destroy us, murder us and have us destroy and murder ourselves - Abortion is the devil’s work.

For couples:  If you are using contraception stop using them now.

Some contraceptives cause abortions.

One effect of the birth control pill is to prevent the baby (developing embryo) from implanting in the uterus – that’s abortion.

For couples who have a just cause for postponing pregnancy learn about healthy, effective, and morally acceptable alternatives, Natural Family Planning

For our youth, we need to educate them about chastity and guide them to some very good websites. Just 2 examples are: www.reallove.net  and  www.chastity.com

So what are some other powerful Pro-Life Movements and Campaigns that are happening these days? Well, I have already mentioned March for Life.  Many parishes have Letter writing campaigns to their members of parliament and the prime minister. Perhaps in the past, you have been involved with one of those. Does it do any good?  I like to think so. I wrote my first one when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I remember being at the kitchen table and specifically asking my father, “what’s abortion?” I didn’t have a clue. He said, “the Government  kills babies.”

So recently I came across a beautiful story. It’s called The Letters for Life Story, and this was initiated by a seventeen-year-old girl by the name of Alexandra (if I pronounce her last name right ) Jezierski.

See, she was disappointed in the fact that Prime Minister Harper doesn’t even have the courage to open up and discuss the abortion issue.

So last Spring she started a letter-writing Campaign in the hopes that MP’s would receive 100,000 letters that speak out against the evils of Abortion. As the Letter Writing Campaign progressed she turned the Campaign towards supporting Mr. Woodworth’s Motion 312. Then they teamed up with MP postcard Campaign which was doing something very similar.  Every letter written and every postcard sent to MPs was to act as a voice for every child that will be aborted in Canada this year. Over 100,000 letters and postcards, tens of thousands of which are still being sorted through the Post Office. Because of a backlog, they may not make it to the offices of the MP  because of a shortage of manpower. So today is a good day to pray, the day saint Anthony died: get em delivered! Those that have been mailed in which some are still being sorted by Canada Post, problem is that they may not make it to the mailboxes of all these MP’s who will be voting this week.  Saint Anthony  get them delivered –

Over 100,00 letters and postcards each representing a child of God who will be aborted in Canada this year – 100,000 aborted children in which you and I and every Member of Parliament are responsible for their well-being and protection.

A few years ago I was flying into Ottawa from the East Coast. I sat beside Mr. Peter McKay, Dept. of National Defense. As we got closer to Ottawa I asked him to give the PM a message for me. He said he would. I said, tell him if he wants a majority Gov’t then become a Pro-Life Gov’t. He thanked me and that was pretty much it. Looks like he got the majority and I guess I will keep praying they become a Pro-Life Government. If there is hope for us, well there is hope for them, keep praying and fasting!

You know why the PM won’t open up the Abortion debate - because I believe - he knows deep down in his heart that Abortion is murder and he can’t handle the truth yet we know from Holy Scripture that the Truth will set us free.

Imagine if Canada took the lead for change and became Canada, the Pro-Life Country –The landd of the Protected and Free and home of the brave and courageous!

Some of our Members of Parliament say there practicing Catholics, well then come out and support Motion 312.

If we do not embrace the teachings of the church we are not in communion with the church.

If were pro- choice –we are not in Communion with the Catholic Church and I agree with the bishops - some who voice very clearly that if we are not in Communion with the church we should not be receiving Holy Communion - Don’t allow ourselves to be misled.

So moving on we have also 40 Days for Life. Put your hands up if you’ve heard of 40 Days for Life. Quite a few of you: all right! Check this story out.

40 Days for Life is an International Campaign of prayer and peaceful witness outside abortion facilities to highlight and defeat abortion for what it is – the murder of babies who have no voice.

The first 40 Days for Life was held in Texas back in 2004

A local Pro-Life group prayed for an answer about how to reduce abortion in their area – and this is what the Lord revealed to them: 40 days, prayerful witness for life.

The Campaign came together in a matter of weeks. A thousand people came forward to participate and their prayers led to a twenty-eight percent decline in abortions in that community.

So here we are 12 years later: 40 Days for Life is spreading: this Fall, next week actually, there are 316 locations holding 40 Days for Life prayer  campaigns.

Across the United States – forty-nine States are involved

Here is Canada, seven provinces – which includes eighteen cities right here in Ontario: Ottawa is one of them.

But they’re also being held in England, Spain, Australia, and for the first time Uganda –

So are they making any difference? Well, a little bit of research tells me that some abortion workers have quit their jobs and are now Pro-Life, twenty-four abortion facilities have closed and organizers of 40 Days for Life show that close to 6,000 babies have been saved. It’s a beautiful number, even one would make it all worthwhile, even if one child was saved

So, the sixth 40 Days for Life begins in Ottawa this Wednesday, the same day interestingly enough the same day that Motion 312 will be voted upon. And our parish will be on site as we were last year for one day. Our day this year is Thursday, Oct 4th and there are sign-up sheets in the Narthex – So I want to really encourage you to come out.

As well as next Sunday afternoon is the twenty-eighth Annual Life Chain is from 2:00 to 3:00 at the corner of Montreal Road and Saint Laurent Boulevard. We’ll meet in the parking lot here at about 1:40 to carpool down so again, please join us. We can make a difference: together we can make a difference to be a voice for an aborted child, even one who may be threatened by abortion.

Any effort to stop abortion is not an attempt to deny women an option - it is a promise to provide them with better options

(a promise to alleviate their despair and prevent their exploitation)

Ladies and gentlemen don’t go it alone – if you have been involved in an abortion there are several Pro-Life groups who want to help you along the journey to healing.

There are alternatives – there is help and to be Pro-Life is to be Pro-Women.

Pro-Life groups offer – real care and real assistance to those who choose life.

Pro-Life groups offer love and understanding to those who made the mistake of having an abortion - There is hope, there is help, there is recovery and most importantly there is love and understanding.

Regarding this whole issue of abortion; our Late Holy Father John Paul II says the Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision and She does not doubt that in many cases it was painful and even a shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly, what happened was and remains terribly wrong but do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. God the Father of Mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

So. in closing, I’d like to just encourage all of you to fast and pray for the Life Chain next Sunday so that the Lord will touch many hearts, and also during the 40 Days for Life prayer campaign that is going on across Canada and the US and in other countries.

Now today’s readings are very powerful and in the Gospel, Jesus says, as he took a child among him and took it in his arms said: whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me…

Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 - 9am

PIlgrimage of Pro-Life Masses

Annunciation of the Lord 

2414 Ogilvie Road Gloucester ON

Celebrant - Father Yves Marchildon

Homily Father Jerry Gauvreau