November 10 2022 is the …. birthday of the founding of the United States Marine Corps…it is also the Feast of St. Leo the Great. And then we have November 11, Veteran’s Day and the Feast of St. Martin of Tours. As a U.S. Marine veteran these celebrations back many memories of the four years I served but also of the many life lessons I learned and how they continue to guide and effect my life as a man, a Catholic and a priest.
As I digest and think about how the state of California has become not only a place where abortion is tolerated but where, after the passing of Proposition 1, it is not only promoted but also now celebrated fills my heart sadness. In some ways I knew it was a forlorn hope that the proposition would be defeated by vote but it was a true hope based on a true desire for the protection of the most vulnerable in our society, the protection of life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. My hope was in our Catholic tradition that all life has dignity and this dignity and gift is discovered in our creation in the likeness of our Heavenly Father.
And while my spirits are dampened my hope remains firm because of the promise given to us in Jesus Christ. On Wednesday morning, as I went to Holy Hour, my reflection book began with this quote from the Gospel of St. John, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33) We are reminded that Jesus does not promise us a world without sin and suffering, but he does promise us faith, hope, love and the knowledge of his victory over sin and death. The firm gift of faith that evil, while present and maybe even looming large in the moment, will not have the last word.
It is a reminder this battle may be lost but the war, the spiritual victory will be won if we preserver in faith and trust. In the Marine Corps we learned very early that “no Marine is left behind” and each and every exercise we did was a drum beat in our heart and mind how true this needed to be so that each Marine stood beside the other in trust and confidence, no matter what, on the battlefield. And perhaps, for us today and in the coming years, we must to be reminded in prayer and adoration how we are called to leave no person, even the baby in the womb, behind for the expedience of our own life.
God’s second reminder to me was in the Thursday morning readings in the Liturgy of the Hours, where St. Paul wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rm 8:18-21) It is in this hope we are called as people of faith to continue the conversation of conversion to the culture of life. We hear about the rising tide of depression, anxiety, fear and loss of hope as the world turns from God seeking fulfillment in the transitory and ultimately empty fields of momentary and worldly conquest and pleasures. In the hope and defense of life, we once more proclaim the sovereignty of the Kingdom of God in humble service of all people. In directing our desire and hopes to Love we discover the fulfillment of joy and peace that celebrates, treasures and proclaims the goodness of each life created in the image and likeness of God.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:1-2)
So my hope may be bruised but not broken, and like so many years past, in January I will climb on the bus and travel to San Francisco for the March for Life. Not because Proposition 1 was approved, but because of my belief and trust that all life is precious and holy and good. We pray for life.
God bless
Fr. Mark
“There is the discarding of children that we do not want to welcome with the law of abortion that sends them to the dispatcher and kills them directly. And today this has become a ‘normal’ method, a practice that is very ugly. It is really murder,” Pope Francis (from Catholic News Agency article dated Sept. 27 2021)
https://www.dsj.org/bishop-oscar-cantu-statement-on-the-passage-of-proposition-1/