Diocesan pro-life directors from across the country convened in Toledo, Ohio, earlier this month for their annual meeting. A special Mass was celebrated, and an awards dinner July 17. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, delivered the keynote, emphasizing the importance of the Eucharist.
“As faithful pro-life leaders, we do well to stay closely connected to the Eucharist and find within it the pattern of our witness of the dignity of human life to our nation and the world,” he said. “In other words, the heart and strength of our pro-life mission is found most perfectly in the Eucharistic Lord.
“This year’s theme, ‘Our Eucharistic Lord, Life of the World,’ is the perfect one for this moment, for this is a moment for remembering who we are and what God has called us to be, to refocus our lives and our work on the one thing that truly sustains us: the Eucharist. Our past, our present, our future — as individuals, as a pro-life community, and as a Church — are all contained in that foretaste of heaven, the Blessed Sacrament.”
He continued, “Sometimes the most important things we accomplish in the Christian life go unseen. Acts of love at times seem to go to waste, but they never do. After feeding the thousands of hungry souls who had come to hear him preach, Jesus instructed his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that nothing may be wasted.’ (Jn 6:12). To live in hope is to realize that Christ leaves no fragment behind. He wastes nothing. He turns all of it to the good.”
He spoke about the landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade last year, and the ongoing work needed at the national and local levels.
“In the face of these opportunities and challenges, we must become new leaders — leaders more attuned to the needs of those we serve and the world in which they live, ever more completely shaped by the example of divine love. Our work requires deep and committed love — not just for a cause, but for the individual human persons whom we serve. There is no better place to learn the kind of love that makes us truly pro-life than before the Eucharist. There we find that our own needs are met with respect, kindness, generosity, patience and love. We learn to treat the needs of others with the same reverence as Christ treats our own, and we witness what it truly means to respect life.”
