The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at the Respect Life Mass at Queen of Apostles Parish in Alexandria on March 4.
Today’s Gospel scene is relived every day. Jesus comes to sinners and heals them by forgiving their sins and drawing them to His Sacred Heart. What enables them to be forgiven is their honesty, that is, their admission that they have indeed sinned and are in need of God’s divine mercy. Seeing that, Jesus says to them: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
Are we in this company of sinners? Can we admit our need for forgiveness? Do we honestly confess our sins and ask the Divine Physician for forgiveness and healing? In other words, can we — will we — admit that we are truly sinners and, therefore, allow Jesus to come to us and save us?
Now, acknowledging our own sinful condition enables us to be compassionate toward those who likewise sin — in thought, word and deed, and by omissions. Rather than be harsh and condemning in the face of their sinfulness, whatever its specific format, we are compassionate and see for them what we desire for ourselves: God’s divine mercy, which means His forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.
Today marks our monthly coming together to pray for a greater respect for life and for an end to everything which threatens and, indeed, destroys life. Surely, our first thought turns to abortion — that unjust attack on the life of an innocent, defenseless pre-born human being. And we must never cease to uphold the right to life of the unborn child and seek to eliminate whatever threatens and destroys such innocent life.
Even as we remain resolute in our resolve to uphold life at its beginning at conception, we are equally aware that innocent life is also unjustly taken at later stages. So, the murder of innocent people is likewise a heinous crime. In the past, the death penalty was used to avenge those crimes against life.
However, in recent times, the teaching of the Catholic Church has challenged all of us to rethink our response to the heinous crime of murder. Permit me to quote from a recent statement by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. “While complex, the teaching of the Universal Church is clear. It has developed over time and has been taught most powerfully in the word and witness of Pope John Paul II. … In Catholic teaching the state has the resource to impose the death penalty upon criminals convicted of heinous crimes if this ultimate sanction is the only available means to protect society from a grave threat to human life. However, this right should not be exercised when other ways are available to punish criminals and to protect society that are more respectful of life … ” (A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, II, 2005).
In fact, Pope John Paul II was extremely clear in opposing the death penalty in 1999 when he spoke to us in St. Louis. “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal … for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.”
Now, let me be the first to admit that assenting to this approach is initially not easy for many among us. I have asked myself: what would be my reaction, for example, to the murder of my parents? I honestly must acknowledge that my first spontaneous reaction would be revenge. However, if I am truly sincere about wanting to be Christ’s disciple, I must move beyond this initial reaction to forgiveness and to hope. Of course, I could not do this on my own, but with God’s divine grace transforming me. I must seek the murderer’s salvation and forgiveness. Yes, the heinous crime must be punished and society protected. But, in today’s society, this can be achieved by life imprisonment without parole. This is indeed the position of our late Holy Father and of Catholic bishops around the world, including our own United States bishops. “No matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect itself without ending a human life, it should do so” (A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops (2005)).
This stance is truly a pro-life stance and all of us who seek to be unconditionally pro-life must ask the Lord for the grace to be converted in mind and heart to make this stance our own. Last June, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and I wrote to Gov. Mark R. Warner advocating precisely this pro-life stance. “In challenging the appropriateness of capital punishment, we readily acknowledge the need for our criminal justice system to ensure that one who has been convicted of a heinous crime be rendered incapable of repeating it. With the availability in Virginia of a life-without-parole sentence, however, that need is routinely met without terminating more lives. The life-sentence alternative, we believe, is unique in its ability to securely protect state residents and at the same time uphold the dignity belonging to every person, even to one convicted of a brutal crime … We are firmly convinced that a society adequately protected without the death penalty is a much better one without it” (Virginia Catholic Bishops, June 2005 Letter to Gov. Warner).
Again, I readily recognize that this approach is not easily heard, understood and accepted at first. However, if we profess to be disciples of Christ and obedient members of the Church, we must carefully listen to the voice of our shepherds, the bishops and the Holy Father. We must seriously and prayerfully reflect on their teachings and seek from the Lord the grace of conversion.
Yes, being pro-life does include our approach to how we deal with those who unjustly attack the life of innocent people, not only the unborn, but also those after birth. I conclude our reflection in this homily by quoting our United States Bishops. “For the Catholic community, this issue — like all life issues — is more that public policy. It involves our faith and the central principle that human life is sacred. Church teaching on the life and dignity of every human person should guide all our decisions about life, including the use of the death penalty. We are called to reflect on what the Lord’s command, “You shall not kill” (Ex 20:13) means for us today … . In his encyclical ‘The Gospel of Life,’ Pope John Paul II told us that we have an ‘inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life’ … Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence” (Ibid). Yes, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth” (Refrain to Psalm 86). Amen!