Pastor’s Corner – Prince of Peace

Respect Life Sunday…Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

This Sunday, October 4th, the Church observes Respect Life Sunday, and this year it coincides beautifully with the feast day of one of Christianity’s most beloved saints, Saint Francis of Assisi.

We are called to protect the child still growing within the womb and to support mothers facing difficult or unexpected pregnancies. We must cherish children after they are born and ensure that families receive the love and assistance they need. We must recognize the dignity of those living with disabilities, the poor and homeless, refugees and migrants, victims of violence and human trafficking, prisoners, the lonely and forgotten and all whose lives are treated as though they matter less than others. We must also accompany those who are elderly, seriously ill, or approaching the end of earthly life. Respecting life, therefore, cannot be limited to a single issue or a single moment of life. It is a way of seeing the human person.

St. Francis understood that what God had created should be received with gratitude and treated with reverence. On this Respect Life Sunday, may his example help us develop eyes that recognize Christ especially in those who are vulnerable, dependent, unwanted, forgotten, or suffering.

Saint Francis is remembered for his extraordinary love of God and his reverence for everything God created. He looked upon the world not as something to possess or exploit, but as a gift entrusted to our care. He saw the hand of the Creator in the sun and moon, in the earth and its creatures, and most especially in his brothers and sisters. His love was not sentimental. Francis embraced lepers, served the poor, sought peace amid conflict, and recognized the presence of Christ in those whom society often preferred not to see.

Similarly, the heart of the church’s teaching on human life is simple–every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses a dignity that can never be taken away. Life is sacred because its ultimate source is GOD. For this reason, Catholics are called to cherish and defend human life at every stage–from conception until natural death.