Driving Directions

Earlier this month, I was driving out to the Midwest with my friend Kayla. We had been asked by our friends to serve as the godparents to their son. In my hasty preparation for the lengthy drive, I mistakenly plugged in the wrong address into the GPS. Actually, I typed an entirely different state into the GPS. (Though in my defense, both state's have a town with the exact same name!)
For most of the ride, we were directed toward Missouri and not Illinois, where our friends live.

After hearing me endlessly blabber on about crossing the Mississippi River and nearing the city of St. Louis, Kayla gently challenged me to look again at the address. Sure enough, it was incorrect. We were supposed to be arriving to our friends' house in Illinois, not Missouri. Thankfully, Kayla noticed my mistake while we were passing through Illinois. If she had waited any longer to point out my misstep, we potentially would have driven an two additional hours past our actual place of arrival.

(Trust me, I took a lot of flack for this navigation snafu from my friends!)

I recount this story not only for a chuckle at my expense, but primarily because had I not listened to Kayla and went in a different direction, I would have totally missed the destination of my Midwest journey. This experience during my road trip reminds me of yesterday's Gospel passage in which we hear Jesus begin his public ministry with these words, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel!" Perhaps put another way, Jesus is saying, "Check your location, and go in a different direction!"

All of us - whether seasoned Christians or neophytes - are in need of constant conversion and transformation. As human beings, it is our natural inclination to wander from the ways of love and traverse the roads of sin. Sometimes, even our best intentions can lead us down a rocky path. We can quickly become lost.

And so we need to hear that gentle, but firm voice of Jesus, challenging us to look at the direction we are currently taking in our lives: Where am I right now and where am I going? What map am I following? We are challenged to listen carefully to that voice of Jesus, to that good friend who speaks up when we are moving in the wrong direction, and return to the right path. In doing so, we will experience true and lasting peace, an abiding sense of joy in our lives, and we will arrive safely at our destination: life in God.

If We Are Pro-Life...

Yesterday was the 45th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Thousands of peaceful protesters, many of whom were Christians, gathered in the nation's capital to rally and march in support of the rights of unborn children, hoping to call attention to the injustices that have emerged from the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

Certainly, being pro-life means opposing the practice of abortion. As people of faith, we recognize the awesome gift of life that God has given to each one of us.

In the 1980's, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago advocated for an integrated vision to all life issues. He called this approach the "seamless garment of life," based on the Gospel values of life and the teachings of the Church. Each issue is, in some way, tied to the other. As Christians, we are challenged to be fully "pro-life."

• If we are pro-life, we are to oppose those conditions which often lead expectant mothers to choose to terminate their pregnancies, especially poverty and lack of support.

• If we are pro-life, we must support life in all its stages. To be authentically pro-life means we advocate for healthcare for all. To be pro-life is also to provide educational and work opportunities for people across the spectrum. 

• If we are pro-life, we honor those nearing the end of life. We oppose euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Life is hallowed, even at its natural end.

• If we are pro-life, we will make sure that the poor, the elderly, and those on the margins for whatever reason will have meals to eat and a roof over their heads. 

• If we are pro-life, we oppose violence in all its forms. 

• If we are pro-life, we oppose the death penalty. We will realize that capital punishment is often based in revenge, not true justice. 

• If we are pro-life, we will reject war. And we reject any language which heightens conflict between peoples and nations.

• If we are pro-life, we will never discriminate against any person based on their race, religion, or sexual orientation. To be pro-life is to reject racism, xenophobia, and homophobia.

• If we are pro-life, we advocate for families. We want to see families thrive, especially immigrant and refugee families who are escaping the violence, oppression, and economic stagnation of their homelands in order to have a better life. 

• If we are pro-life, then we are also to be pro-immigrant and pro-refugee.

• If we are pro-life, we are also pro-woman. We oppose human trafficking. We oppose the business of sex slavery, including pornography. We must also advocate for equal standards of pay, treatment, and safety in the workplace. 

• If we are pro-life, we will protect the vulnerable and fragile environment. We need to recognize the earth as a gift upon which all human life exists.

As Christians, we must strive to be authentically pro-life in all these areas. As the Church, we must not allow ourselves to be hijacked and co-opted by any one particular politician or party on these life issues. Neither the Republican party nor the Democratic party embodies the entirety of this "seamless garment." 

There is much work for us to do in our society to promote life and oppose practices which diminish human dignity. Each one of us will constantly need to be open to transformation and conversion regarding all of these life issues. We may need to gradually grow to embrace some of these pro-life stances and recognize the ways in which we might be violating God's command to protect human life in all its forms and stages.

We entrust our lives and our advocacy for life in all its forms to our Lord Jesus Christ who came so that we all might have life, and have it in abundance.