Respect Life Sunday
October 7, 2018

In 1531, when the indigenous peoples of Mexico were subjugated and the practice of human sacrifice was still a recent memory, the Mother of God appeared to St. Juan Diego as a pregnant native woman, now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

She sent him with miraculous flowers in his cloak to tell the bishop to build a church where people could receive her Son and her loving, tender care. When St. Juan Diego opened the cloak before the bishop, an image of Our Lady was revealed that remains to this day. The chapel was quickly built, millions embraced Christianity, and the Church increased its protection of the indigenous peoples. 

By embracing the mission entrusted to him, St. Juan Diego helped bring Christ's transforming love to cultures gripped by oppression and death.

Today, we again see the dignity of human life disregarded. Unborn children are destroyed through abortion, and ill people are encouraged and assisted to take their own lives. How do we respond?

The essence of our identity is that we are created in God's image and likeness and loved by Him. Nothing can diminish the priceless worth of any human life. Every person is cherished.

God creates every person for eternal union with Himself and continually invites us to embrace a loving relationship with Him. Every person is chosen.

We are called to be messengers of God's love, treating one another as cherished and chosen by Him. In doing so, we help build a culture that respects all human life. Every person is sent.

Like St. Juan Diego, let us embrace our daily mission to help others encounter God's transforming, life-giving love.



 Support our RESPECT LIFE efforts with an online donation.

michael.laskey@camdendiocese.org          ♦          856-583-2910

 
  
Life and Justice serves the Bishop by assisting the clergy and laity in promoting a consistent ethic of life. Life and Justice ministry provides an essential response to our baptismal call. The mission of Life and Justice is rooted in Scripture and Tradition, particularly as reflected in our Catholic social teaching, especially in the papal and episcopal writings. As Catholics, we are called to be leaven for transforming people and society, agents for bringing about God's reign of love and justice, consistently, explicitly, and unconditionally affirming the God-given dignity of all people, from conception to natural death. Jesus, through the Church, the People of God, calls our entire diocesan community to the following consciousness: “action for justice is a constitutive dimension of the Gospel, Christian life, and spirituality, demanding a full, active, and participatory response” (Justice in the World - Synod of Bishops, 1971).
 
 Life & Justice Ministries offers:
  • Parish-based Life & Justice formation sessions
  • Consultation meetings with your Life & Justice committee
  • Educational programs for youth groups and Confirmation classes
  • Speaker Events
  • Online resources to help you learn, pray, and act for justice at

camdenlifejustice.wordpress.com

For more information

E-mail: michael.laskey@camdendiocese.org

or visit us on Facebook

http://facebook.com/camdenlifejustice

 

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