Faith Seeking Understanding for October 9, 2005

October is often called the “Month of the Rosary,” or even simply, “Our Lady’s Month.” Last Sunday was “Respect Life Sunday,” marked by the annual Life Chain; the entire month has been designated by the Bishops of the United States to increase our awareness of the sanctity of human life. Our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary corresponds in a very real way to our appreciation of the value of human life. Mary worshiped our Savior in her virgin womb, she was able to perceive the dignity of the person through her Son’s scourged and crucified body, and she continues to intercede for the entire mystical Body of Christ in Heaven. She is the perfect model to help us grow in our own respect for life.

Last Friday (October 7) was the feast of the Holy Rosary. This feast was celebrated first in 1571, after a naval victory at Lepanto over the Turkish Moslem fleet. Pope St. Pius V had encouraged all the citizens of Rome to pray the Rosary requesting the victory through the intercession of our Lady; when the battle was won, the Pope declared a feast day in honor of the Rosary. We might find it strange at first that prayers should be offered on behalf of a military engagement, and that a feast day should be created to commemorate these prayers. God, however, is deeply concerned about our culture and the good of His Church on earth.

We, too, are now engaged in a great cultural war – not so much with armies and ammunition – but with our values, our customs, traditions, and the teachings of the Faith. The culture around us (often simply called “the world” in Christian tradition) rejects the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. The world at large rejects His Cross, as well as His Resurrection. Most explicitly, our modern world rejects the virtues of chastity, modesty, and temperance. At the heart of this war is a great lie, told to us and our culture by the devil himself: man has no inherent dignity.

“You are not created in God’s image and likeness,” we hear Satan say in so many ways. Pornography, contraception, abortion, and euthanasia each tear down our appreciation of the value of human life. The indiscriminate use of capital punishment makes us doubt our own belief that we all are created by God. The acceptance of homosexual “marriage” corrupts our understanding of the God-given complimentary of the sexes, and the meaning of marriage for “co-creating” with God. In each of these ways, the devil feeds us the lie that the human person is not an image of God. The truth, however, is that each of us is a unique and unrepeatable image of the Holy and Blessed Trinity. Never, in all of time, will two human beings be exactly the same – not just in appearance, or attitude, temperament or ability – but each of us is completely distinct and unique, because we all reflect the splendor of our Father in an individual way.

In particular, the guilt of abortion can be a weight impossible to bear. We must do our best to support women in their path of healing, and to help women in difficult pregnancies. Project Rachel is a healing ministry for those having been afflicted by abortion; it can be reached by calling (888) RACHEL5. We need to strengthen our own families and help rediscover a culture of life. We also need to open our eyes to the horror of abortion, and pray daily that this scourge – which has killed more than 46 million children since Roe v. Wade – will be lifted from our nation. We are in a great battle, more desperate than that of Lepanto. Pray the Rosary for a victory; pray the Rosary for Life!