October is generally thought of as Respect Life Month and when we hear this, our minds quickly jump to the lives of the unborn. In our post-Roe world, we know that much still needs to be done to protect the pre-born. As fighting against abortion should continue to get our attention and support, we must also not forget that all life needs to be protected.
This would include the poor and unemployed in the world, the immigrant, as well as those who are aged or ill. “Almost 50 years after Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has finally returned to the American people the authority to govern ourselves on the matter of abortion,” said Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities. He called on Catholics to “build a better future—a future in which the new hallmarks of our society will be solidarity, compassion, reconciliation, and a new unity as a nation ... Accordingly, we must live and act in radical solidarity with mothers, children, and families in need.”
We would do well also to consider the following points in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as we seek to live the best lives we can.
2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.
Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.
2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for its sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.
2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.
As Catholics, our work must include regular prayer and support for those least fortunate among us and to petition God in His Mercy to bestow on us good health in mind, body and spirit and to ask Him to protect all life from evil and danger. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen!
They will know we are Christians by our love!
Stephen Scarallo
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