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During the month of October we have been celebrating Respect Life Month. I want to talk today about a specific issue assaulting the right to life: Physician-Assisted Suicide. The next Maryland legislative session will open in January. Powerful out-of-state activists will try to bring physician-assisted suicide to Maryland. It is important for us to realize why this matters for us and our families. To answer that I am going to reproduce here and slightly adapt some points made in a Parish Resource Kit prepared by the Maryland Catholic Conference.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In support of this annual observance I am presenting in this column some material developed under the guidance of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Catholic Charities Domestic Violence Priest Advisory Committee, of which I am a member. One message that our committee wants to communicate is this: You Don’t Deserve to be Abused!

Last weekend Pope Francis invoked the Holy Spirit on us as the People of God so that we will able to move forward together, to listen to each other, and discern our times in solidarity with the struggles and aspirations of all humanity. The Holy Father celebrated a solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome last Sunday, October 10. Dioceses around the world will begin the synodal journey today. The Archdiocese of Washington has developed a pastoral plan to implement the Synod Pope Francis is convoking. The Archdiocese has provided priests with some briefing materials. They will be my source for the rest of this column.

October is both Respect Life Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. There is certainly an important connection between the two events. In observance of both events I am finishing the overview of Domestic Violence that is based on an important statement entitled When I Call for Help. This statement was issued several years ago by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. At the end of the column I am including the statement for Respect Life Month by Archbishop Joseph Naumann.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I am going to devote both this week’s and next week’s column to presenting an overview of Domestic Violence that is based on an important statement entitled When I Call for Help. This statement was published several years ago now from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Today marks the final day of National Migration Week. The Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated this event for nearly fifty years. It provides an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. This year National Migrant Week began on September 20. Its closing today dovetails with the Vatican’s celebration of World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR). The primary theme for WDMR for this year is “Toward an ever wider ‘WE.’ When Pope Francis announced this year’s theme, he emphasized that “this focus calls on us to ensure that ‘after all this, we will think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those,’ but only ‘us” (Fratelli tutti, no. 35). And this universal us must become a reality first of all within the Church which is called to cultivate communion in diversity.’

Eight days ago we had the twentieth anniversary of that awful day when nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in Shanksville, PA. Last Sunday about forty parishioners attended a Prayer Service here in which we reflected on Scripture, and prayed for special groups of people during a period of intercessory prayer. It was a very moving night for me, especially since I have ministered to families who lost someone at 9/11 in three of the parishes in which I have been assigned. For them 9/11 is always a sad and painful day of remembrance.

Last Monday we celebrated Labor Day which in my childhood marked the end of the summer vacation. The day after Labor Day marked the first day of school. It was a day of new routines, getting to know the new teacher—in most cases our classroom teacher was a Sister of Mercy, and seeing friends after the summer absence. It wasn’t until many years later I learned the significance of Labor Day. Now that I have a better understanding of why we celebrate Labor Day, I look forward to the annual statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the occasion. Their statement follows in the footsteps of that great champion of the working man and woman: James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 to 1921. The statement for Labor Day 2021 was issued by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City in his capacity as the chairman of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. Archbishop Coakley makes the observation that these are both encouraging signs of economic recovery and ongoing hardships related to COVID-19.

On Sunday, August 29, 2021 Pope Francis addressed the people gathered to pray the Angelus with him. He told them that he was following the situation in Afghanistan with great concern, adding “I share in the suffering of those who mourn for the people who lost their lives in the suicide attacks last Thursday, and of those who are seeking help and protection.” The Holy Father commended the souls of the almost two hundred people who were killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport last week to the mercy of Almighty God. Pope Francis thanked everyone who was continuing to assist those in need and was praying that dialogue and solidarity may lead to the establishment of peaceful and fraternal coexistence and offer hope for the future of the country. The Holy Father reminded everyone that in historical moments like the present one we cannot remain indifferent, adding “I appeal to everyone to intensify prayer and practice fasting, prayer and penance. Now is the time to do it.”

Haiti is struggling to recover from the earthquake followed by Tropical Storm Grace. This has aggravated the devastation and long-standing civil unrest in the country. The people of Haiti will no doubt see ongoing hardship in the weeks ahead as they begin recovery and rebuilding efforts. On August 20, 2022, Archbishop José H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has sent a letter to all bishops in the United States to ask them to consider taking up a voluntary special collection in their dioceses for the Bishops Emergency Fund.

On Saturday, August 14, 2021, Haiti suffered a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. As of late Sunday, August 15, 2021, nearly 1,300 people have been killed, more than 5,700 people are injured, and more than 30,250 needed shelter as a result of the earthquake, which affected the southwestern part of the country, particularly the Dioceses of Jérémie, Les Cayes, and Anse-à-Veau Mirogoane.

Every now and then a solemnity like that of the Assumption falls on a Sunday. When this happens in Ordinary Time, the solemnity takes precedence. At the end of her earthly life, God assumed Mary into heaven where she reigns as queen until the end of time. From the beginning of her life on earth, when she was immaculately conceived, until the end the Blessed Virgin Mary conformed her life to God’s will. We can look upon her as we endeavor to discern God’s will in our own lives.

Christians are called to be saints. Saints are persons in heaven (whether they are officially canonized or not) who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their lives for others, or were martyred for the faith. Their lives are worthy to be imitated.

Last Sunday was the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Pope Francis has recognized that this time is marked by a pandemic and by the suffering of our older generations in every part of the world. The fact that many elderly people have had to die alone and then not be able to have a funeral has been a source of deep pain in the Church. It has certainly been a source of deep pain here in the parish. This was one of the crosses of our time that came to mind during the Way of the Cross led by Pope Francis on Good Friday this year. During that solemn time of prayer one person reported the following: “People jumped out of the ambulance dressed like astronauts, wearing protective suits, gloves, masks, and face shield. They took away my grandfather who had been having difficulty breathing. That was the last time that I saw my grandfather. He died a few days later in hospital. I think of how lonely he must have felt. I couldn’t be near him physically to say goodbye and comfort him.”

I was at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas from July 14-18 for a conference. One of the things to which I look forward to on such an occasion is meeting other people attending the conference as they are often from all over the country. I was not disappointed in this regard. While I was there I met a priest from the Diocese of Tulsa and the Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas. With both of them I had a conversation about the recently beatified Blessed Stanley Rother who had been a priest from Oklahoma and volunteered to be a missionary in Guatemala. Blessed Stanley was murdered because he did not want to abandon the indigenous people in his parish. His parishioners were being tortured and murdered by soldiers and paramilitary squads. When Stanley spoke out against this, he learned that he had been put on a list of people to be tortured and murdered. He was killed on July 28, 1981.

I am continuing the presentation of General Principles that are covered by the Catholic Bishops of the United States in their 1996 statement on “Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care.” I’ll discuss two of these General Principles today.

Often priests of the Archdiocese of Washington are asked to undertake other responsibilities in addition to their parish duties. Three years ago I was asked to become the Chaplain to the Courage Apostolate for the Archdiocese of Washington. Courage offers support for Catholic men and women who experience same-sex attraction and desire to live chaste lives following the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. In the course of my work in the Courage, I have found a document issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006 to be of enormous help in understanding the issues involved with this pastoral situation. Today I am going to present the introduction to this document and one of the general principles to bear in mind when considering this issue.

Today we celebrate Independence Day, the anniversary of our country’s founding. We should appreciate our freedom to worship as we desire, while we aspire to build a more perfect union, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare. It is important for us to see where we need to keep working and persevere in that task. Let’s talk about something that has been talked about in the papers and on social media.

An item that has been in the news lately is the discovery of the remains of over 200 children at a former indigenous residential school in Canada. Both Canadian bishops and indigenous leaders are pushing for a papal apology because this particular Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, which was founded in 1890, was run by both the local Catholic Church and the Canadian government until it closed in 1978. Calls are being increased for Pope Francis to make a formal public apology for the crimes and abuses committed against indigenous children at the schools on behalf of the Catholic Church. Since similar schools were run in the United States, it is timely that we look at racism and the experience of Native Americans. The information that I am presenting on this comes from a background sheet entitled “Racism and the Native American Experience.” Here is the link for this background position paper for those who wish to consult it directly: racism-and-native-american-experience.pdf (usccb.org).

Over the last several weeks, we have been looking at Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, a pastoral letter that the Catholic Bishops of the United States issued in November 2018. In that letter the Catholic bishops urge all Catholics to acknowledge “the scourge of racism” that still exists in our hearts, words, actions, and institutions. Racism is rooted in a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of people of a different race. It does not reflect the inner life of God—the Triune unity of three-in-one-that we are called to imitate. Racism manifests itself in sinful individual actions, which contribute to structures of sin that perpetuate division and inequality, as has been seen throughout our nation’s history and into the present. One such structure in need of conversion is the criminal justice system. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have issued a well-written background sheet on “Racism and the Criminal Justice System” that will be my source of information for what I say in this column. Here is the link for the background position paper for those who wish to consult it directly: racism-and-criminal-justice.pdf (usccb.org).