St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

Jesus of Nazareth prayed. Yes, he worked all day. He taught his hearers about the Kingdom promised. He touched those living with infirmity, with the power of the Kingdom promised. He did all of this. But through all of this, Jesus prayed to the One he called “our Father in Heaven”, and he asked his followers to pray as he did. In Jesus of Nazareth, we see a complete obedience to the will of the Invisible God. This divine will, this plan for humanity, is known in and through prayer. We are called to be pray-ers.

When did our world stop respecting life? When did our world stop praying? Maybe a better question is: Have we stopped respecting the sacred gift of life? Have we stopped praying, listening to and for the will of God? What about this faith Jesus speaks of, this power that is said to move mountains? How is “faith” tied into the spiritual discipline of prayer?

Though it is overly simplistic, I would ask us to think a bit about what (whom) we give our hearts to. Think about these questions of conscience with me:

Do we live and act in the world as if God does not exist? Do we plan all things and decide all things and seek all things without thinking and praying…is this what God wants of me, is this what God wants of my family, is this what God wants of our parish? What power or principle or person guides our living in the here and now? Do we act as if we believe only in ourselves? Has science become the Lord of our lives? Have our “needs and wants” supplanted the Lord, as the center of our heart’s desire? In all of this, where does Jesus of Nazareth fit in with our decisions and deliberations and actions?

Respecting life comes from a kind of knowing that is the fruit of prayer. Respecting life comes from a kind of knowing given to us through our encounter with the mystery and majesty of the Creator of all. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, respecting life is accepting and cherishing all of human life, from conception to natural death, as God’s gift (2319). Respecting life is about our stewardship of all life lived on this good earth. Why on earth should we think about prayer on Respect Life Sunday? AMDG

Msgr. David

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