St Catherine of Siena Parish-Little Compton, RI
13th Sun Ordinary time (Jairus' daughter)
It's time to wake up!
These are the dreaded words for any child, parent, or just anyone trying to get a few extra minutes of sleep… Wake up!!!
They are the words from mom, dad, husband, wife or even a blasting radio…
Wake up!!! Arise!!!
In today's Gospel, these are the words of Jesus. In his own language, he says, "Talitha Koum", which translates in our day as, "Wake up, arise!!!" He is asked to "lay hands on Jairus' daughter so she may live." He does just that and restores her life as he says, "Arise, Wake up!!!"
My brothers and sisters, why am I mentioning all this today? In just two days, we will celebrate our national holiday, July 4th, the day on which we celebrate our nation's freedom and independence. However, can we really celebrate freedom? Are we truly free? Most of you have heard about the latest decision by the Supreme Court. They did it in the early 70's with Roe v. Wade and they have done it again! In a 5-4 vote, they defeated the ban on partial birth abortion. This decision makes it perfectly legal to abort a child at any time in the 9 months of pregnancy. A perfectly healthy baby could be aborted all because 5 judges took it upon themselves to defeat the ban on partial birth abortion. I was amazed to see this past week, the extreme position of the pro abortionists. A late night talk show hosted a pro life representative and a pro abortionist one as well. In the last question, one of the hosts asked the pro abortionist.. "I want to see how extreme you are. Are you telling me you would be for the woman's choice to abort a perfectly healthy baby a week before delivery?" The pro abortionist fumbled around a little and then finally admitted, "yes, I would be for that woman's choice to do so."
There it is, my brothers and sisters! The only thing the pro abortionists regret is that the vote was so close (5-4)! Amazing!
I don't mean to darken this Sunday, especially on my first weekend here as a new priest. I don't mean to be a party pooper, but we should be outraged over this decision! Look at the violence, the rejection of school prayer, and now I hear even the moment of silence is being challenged. America! Wake up!!!! Arise!
We as Christians need to stand up for life now!!! The time has come for all of us to let it be known that we do not agree with this decision and have had enough! Arise, wake up! We as Catholics, Christians follow Him who came and died on the Cross so we may have life! We are a people of life! We follow Him who will be among us in just moments on the altar in what looks like bread and wine but will become the body and blood of Jesus Christ! We worship Him, who, as it says in our first reading, does not rejoice in the destruction of the living! My brothers and sisters, Arise! Be witnesses to life by speaking up, writing, and voting for life. Be noisy alarm clocks and help Wake up this nation!!! Let us be witnesses and voices for those who have no voice and pray that our nation may wake up, arise and once again be a great nation under God!