By Linda Busetti
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/24/02)
Busloads of parishioners arrived at the cathedral from St. John Parish in McLean, Holy Family Parish in Dale City, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna and St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax. They were joined by young families, senior citizens, Cathedral school students and a group led by Father Peter Stryker of St. Helen Parish in Glasgow, Ky.
In welcoming them, Bishop Loverde told the congregation, "We believe that one day the victory of life will be complete."
The Gospel reading (Mt. 5:1-14) included a very appropriate message for those about to set out on the March: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied."
"Who among us can ever forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001," Bishop Loverde began his homily, "The destruction of human life — even now we ask, ‘How can human beings be so cruel to one another?’"
"However, disrespect for human life did not begin on Sept. 11," Bishop Loverde said. "We remember another day … Jan. 22, 1973 —on that day 29 years ago the Supreme Court published their decision Roe v. Wade, a decision which opened the door to taking the lives of innocent, defenseless, pre-born children." "On that infamous day, abortion on demand" became legal in this country, he said.
Since then, Bishop Loverde said, there has been an average of 1.3 million abortions performed annually in this country. This "surely represents a massive attack on life, but such destruction is not visible on television screens and in newspapers. It takes place each day in the invisible silence of communities and clinics across this land. Do we not mourn for those innocent and defenseless children whose lives have been crushed by abortion and then discarded?"
Bishop Loverde advised, "We must never hate those who have had abortions" because "hate propagates hate … We must propagate the Gospel of Life."
We live in a society that is "too often swayed by the culture of death," Bishop Loverde said. "We must assist those who are conflicted," by helping in crisis pregnancy centers which are pro-life. "We must educate" and "elect and support pro-life leaders who will uphold and protect the basic right to life of every person pre-born and born," he said. "We must be supportive by providing means to be healed through Project Rachel," Bishop Loverde said.
"Our prayer here in this cathedral and our witness later in the March for Life, " Bishop Loverde said, "empowers us to respond to the challenge of our Holy Father recorded in his encyclical, The Gospel of Life: ‘What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life. All together, we must build a new culture of life (n. 95).’"
In support of these efforts the Bishops of the United States, Bishop Loverde said, have "reaffirmed and revised A Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life." This campaign will include "public information and education, pastoral care, public policy and prayer and worship," Bishop Loverde said.
The reaction to Sept. 11 "energizes us as Christ’s disciples … to be unrelentingly and unabashedly pro-life every day, wherever we are…" Bishop Loverde said.
After Mass, the cathedral emptied out into an unusually beautiful, mild January day. Those planning on attending the March boarded buses. Father Jose Hoyos, pastor of Holy Family, gathered his parishioners. Father Edward Hathaway, pastor of St. John, chatted in the warm sun before climbing on a school bus. Father Denis Donahue, pastor of St. Rita, joined 28 members of his flock, including little Molly Ring, for the ride to the March in Washington.
Copyright ©2002 Arlington Catholic Herald. All rights reserved.
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