WASHINGTON — Taking part in the March for Life is "an
authentic act of patriotism," Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, head of the
U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, told 5,000 worshipers Jan. 24 in
his homily for the closing Mass of the National Vigil for Life.
"Today you and I render a service to the nation we love in
an authentic act of patriotism, because we march to attest to the dignity of
the human person and the duty of the state to protect and foster that
dignity," Archbishop Broglio said. "It is an innate dignity, because
the human person is created in the image and likeness of God."
The issues of faith and politics are brought into sharp relief by
the Mass' Gospel passage, in which Jesus instructs Pharisees and Herodians who
are out to trap him, "Repay to Caesar what is Caesar's, and repay to God
what is God's."
"What is the relationship between faith and the political
life? What is the role of the church in civil society? Can we as the body of
Christ address the problems of everyday life?" Archbishop Broglio asked.
"Why does the bishop of Rome send representatives to some 183 nations
throughout the world -- including our own?"
"The questions are valid," he acknowledged. "Every
time a bishop or a priest speaks about social justice, we can hear a similar
refrain: They are interfering in the political system or attempting to force
creedal values in the public sphere."
Still, "let us remember that the believer is charged to be
the leaven of the Gospel in our world," Archbishop Broglio said at the Mass,
which had the theme "For the Preservation of Peace and Justice."
"At the end of the day when we examine our conscience, we
want to be certain that we have given to God what is his. He has placed a law
in our hearts and we believe that this natural law must also have its place in
our civil society."
Archbishop Broglio said, "Giving to Caesar and to God is not
quite as simple as it seems, because our lives are not lived in compartments,
but are intermingled in many aspects." He added, "Let us accept, then,
as free women and men, the political commitments which are born from the very
mission entrusted by God to the human person."
In a lifelong pilgrimage as Christians, he said, "we are
responsible for completing that pilgrimage in faithful observance of the
commandments. We are also responsible for helping our brothers and sisters
complete their pilgrimage in response to the divine will."
Those moments, he noted, may come along the march route should
supporters of legal abortion counter the message of March for Life
participants.
"Yes, we march to protect the unborn and the aged, but our
demonstration of the dignity of the human person extends beyond a single day or
a single issue," Archbishop Broglio said. "When you and I treat
another with respect — even if we disagree — we witness to that person's
dignity."
During the last general intercession of the Mass and Archbishop
Broglio's prayer following it, a man began shouting from the back of the
basilica, although what he said was having trouble being heard over the
amplified voices praying from the sanctuary. The disruption stopped before
Archbishop Broglio's prayer had concluded, but the fate of the man doing the
shouting could not immediately be determined.