Dear Friends,
Blessings to you and your loved ones on this Fourth of July weekend! We have added reason to be thankful and to rejoice this year in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, handed down on the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This unjust wrong has been righted on the federal level. There remains so much more work to do on the state and community level; perhaps even on the federal level.
Being pro-life is not only securing the fundamental right to life, which is sacred, it is respecting, assisting, supporting, accompanying, welcoming every human being from conception to natural death in their struggles, needs and successes. We recognize every human life to be sacred, in the image and likeness of God. We work tirelessly to help and assist those in any need, from any direction.
This decision is a tremendous milestone, but many challenges still face us to help our nation embrace fully the culture of life. May we not grow weary but turn to our Lord for His wisdom, strength, and light to guide us in this vitally necessary and sacred work as His disciples.
Our readings this weekend draw our attention to God’s comforting His people, being new creations in Christ, and Jesus sending forth of the seventy-two to announce the Kingdom of God. Each reading individually is rich and full, with much for us to ponder and take to heart.
God does not abandon us. In fact, since the fall of Adam and Eve, He is constantly seeking us out. Through the patriarchs, prophets, judges, and kings in the Old Testament leading right up to the Word becoming Flesh, Jesus the Christ.
Jesus, God Incarnate, shows forth the profound depth of God’s care and compassion by His suffering and death on the Cross. His Resurrection is affirmation that we too are sharers in God’s divine life, His love. Through His Mystical Body, the Church, Jesus continues to pour forth through the Sacraments grace upon grace, drawing us into God’s embracing life and love.
Drawing more deeply from the eternal font of life-giving waters that come to us from the pierced side of Jesus, may we courageously accept Jesus’ call to go forth in His Name and to bring our brothers and sisters into His presence and embrace. It’s not lots of training or knowledge that we need. It’s an open heart filled with God’s grace and a willingness to share simply what God is doing in our lives at this moment. In sharing such a witness about Him, glory can be given to God for all His goodness to us.
God bless you, God love you,
Monsignor McCulken