By Christopher Lenart, a parishioner at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, Naperville, who is posting once a month, every month, on this blog, writing about faith-related matters, To contact Christopher, email him at clenart@comcast.net. To learn more about him, go to his website: https://www.disabilityawareness.us/
Boy, our country is getting scary with the abortion laws and crazy movements that are popping up. Last weekend, the second reading was on love. It was Corinthians 12:31 – 13: 13, and it is my favorite reading of all time. This reading can be summed up in one sentence, and that is nothing is greater than love. So how do we show love to those who are not in favor of our morals?
I have been trying to get my head around this concept. If it was not about some basic morals, I would just say learn to forgive and move on. But since it is about ending someone’s life right up to the birth, how do we love the people who signed this bill into law? (The bill in question is the
Reproductive Health Act, which New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law last month. The bill allows abortions to occur up to the final day of pregnancy, if the woman’s health is endangered. It also allows non-doctors to conduct abortions. The previous law allowed abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy only if a woman’s life was at risk.)
The thing that got to me was, after it was passed, people were clapping like it was a big victory for everybody. We know that is not the case.
The thing that is making me kind of happy is that you are seeing a lot of videos on YouTube that are speaking out that this law is bad for the country. There was one guy who was pro-choice, and he said that he is a pro-life now. I pray that is the case. Another thing is that men are speaking out more. God is doing something to our country, and I don’t know what it is.
Now getting back to my original question: how do we love people who are not morally with us? Like Jesus said, “Love one another as I love you.” Doesn’t this contradict going against our morals? If you look on the surface, you might say yes. The last sentence in the second reading last Sunday was: “So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” It didn’t say if the person has the same belief system as you, or they are your friends. Did the reading have restrictions on love? The answer is no. So, we have to love everybody.
We have to pray for the person who is misguided. You could say that the governor of New York should know better since he is a Catholic, but we often see people fall away from the Church. The devil grabs them up and put bad ideas in their minds. Pray is the only way that we can change hearts and minds. I am not saying that we should not speak out that this law is wrong.
After Jesus died, the disciples went out to proclaim the Good News. They found themselves in prison and later killed because they were speaking the Truth. Now, it is our turn to speak up for what is morally wrong. Many people are doing that and why are we, as Catholics, not doing the same? God wants us to be bold because we already know how it will end. He also said that the fight will be long and hard. We just have to believe in ourselves and He is with us ALWAYS.
As we pray, we should ask God to give our president and the lawmakers the wisdom to do what is morally right. When we do that, I believe we can change hearts and minds of so many people. As I end this post, read about what is love and ask yourself if you have the love that God is talking about?
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.