Bishop Michael F. Burbidge encouraged a large crowd including many young people at a Mass for the Gift of Human Life Jan. 21 at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.
“My dear young friends, what a sign of hope we will be,” he said, noting that he would join Christendom College in leading the 49th annual March for Life down Constitution Avenue towards the U.S. Supreme Court.
He spoke about the story of David and Goliath. “We know the outcome: the underdog defeated the giant,” Bishop Burbidge said. He noted that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by “gigantic worldly powers that lead to evil, including the horrific decision to legalize abortion in our country.”
He said David defeated Goliath not because of his cleverness or strategies but because he was strengthened by the Lord. “With his help and through the prayers, witness and advocacy of so many people throughout the years, look how close we are in knowing the possibility that, pray God, the Roe v. Wade decision will soon be overturned or strictly limited,” he said.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year on the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Bishop Burbidge added, “We know there are some giants out there who will try to dismiss, discredit and disregard us. But we are not afraid, as evidenced in what we do today. We will allow our voices to be heard as we speak to elected officials and bring our faith into the public arena. We will march peacefully in our nation’s capital, united as brothers and sisters, because we have the truth.”
He pointed to many diocesan ministries that reflect the Gospel of Life, including Project Rachel, the Gabriel Project, Catholic Charities and Mother of Mercy medical clinics, which he said “are carried out through the goodness, generosity and sacrifices of volunteers” and parishioners of the diocese.
On our own, “we can never defeat the powers of this world,” he said. “We can only do so with the strength God supplies.
“So when you think about it, we are not the underdogs but the giants, because it is the Lord who will be leading us,” he said.
At the beginning of the Mass, Father Jamie Workman, vicar general, read a message from the Vatican conveying an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis encouraging young people to keep up their “outstanding witness” for life.
After the Mass, tour buses lined up outside the cathedral to take parishioners downtown to the March for Life, held annually on the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision.
