A Note From Fr. Brady
In this month of October, a plethora of emphases are presented to us in our Holy Mother Church: Respect Life Month, World Mission Sunday, Month of the Holy Rosary. All of these are most certainly worthy of our attention. It is a non-negotiable tenet of the Christian Faith that we support the pro-life cause, most especially protecting the unborn who are completely defenseless. This not only includes simply saying we’re pro-life. We must live it out and let that belief inform our actions. We must pray for an end to all abortions in all cases. We must support legislation and legislators who promote the pro-life cause and when, for example, no legislators in a given election are fully pro-life, we can choose to support those who would do the least harm. To be clear, our support of pro-life politicians is not a matter of personal preference or opinion. When casting our ballots that have a direct bearing on whether the unborn live or die, we are casting our ballots before God before whom we will need to give an account when we leave this world.
Our pro-life efforts protecting the unborn should also overflow to the related area of missionary work. There are countless people in our world who do not have enough to eat or drink, who do not have adequate housing or clothing. The corporal works of mercy thus direct us to help those in need. However, it must not stop there. Our mission work, whether in our own neighborhood or around the world, must include the advancement of the Good News of salvation through evangelization. We know there are also countless people in our world who have never heard the name of Jesus and the salvation he offers to those who accept him and are baptized. Love for those who are poor both materially and spiritually is what drove our most lauded saint martyrs to go to the ends of the earth to preach and baptize.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the Rosary is a powerful prayer that we can pray to support the pro-life cause and missionary work. Our Blessed Mother desires us to pray the Rosary every day. Even if it’s full of distractions that are beyond our control, our praying of the Rosary will bring spiritual graces upon us in abundance. After all, what mother would come to the aid of her children who keep calling out to her in their need? And what God would not shower his graces upon the Mother of God when she asks for them for the good of their children on earth?
May the many graces offered us in this month of October keep us attuned to the plethora of ways God desires to work in our lives from the pro-life cause to evangelizing to prayer. May our Blessed Mother sustain us with the graces of her Son to be the witnesses our Holy Mother Church needs in these days.
Fr. Brady Keller
