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HERALD Columnist |
The Fourth of July is one of my favorite days.
Living across the street from a public high
school field from which the town fireworks display was launched each year
made it extra special, as did the presence of many relatives and friends
who
would come to our house to celebrate the day
(as well as my father's and brother's birthdays).
As a priest, furthermore, I enjoy offering the prayers of the liturgy for Independence Day. The Preface is particularly inspiring. It reads in part,
"[Christ] spoke to men a message of peace and
taught us to live as brothers. His message took form in the vision of our
fathers, as they fashioned a nation where men might live as one. This message
lives on in our midst as a task for men today and a promise for
tomorrow. We thank you, Father, for your blessings
in the past, and for all that, with your help, we must yet achieve" (Sacramentary,
Preface for Independence Day I, P82).
The blessings we give thanks for on the Fourth of July are many. I have come to realize that more than ever as I have had occasion in the last few years to speak on almost every continent. We give thanks not only for material possessions and for freedom, but for the vision behind them. The vision is that "men might live as one"; the vision is that all will be welcomed, as the Statue of Liberty symbolizes; the vision is that "all are created equal"; the vision is "liberty and justice for all."
It is a vision that we do not merely look back on, thanking God that our Founding Fathers had it. It is, rather, a vision which is "a task for today and a promise for tomorrow."
This is why the pro-life movement is so American. It is a movement striving to achieve welcome for those of whom Roe v. Wade spoke when it said, "The word 'person,' as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn" (Roe at 158). Roe excluded; the pro-life movement includes. Roe made the circle of persons in America smaller; the pro-life movement seeks to expand it.
One Fourth of July, some friends of mine and I held a banner in front of my house as all the people gathered across the street for the fireworks. It said, "Pray to end Abortion." One man, expressing agreement with the message, questioned whether it was the right setting to deliver it. "Of course it is," I explained. "This is the day we celebrate a nation in which all are supposed to be considered equal. What better way to celebrate our freedom than to work to extend it to others?"
I pray you will all enjoy this Fourth of July. I know I will, as I watch the fireworks right from home. As I celebrate Mass that day, I will pray that this year's celebration will renew your determination to work for justice and freedom for all unborn Americans.
Father Pavone is the International Director of Priests for Life
and an official at the Vatican’s Council for the Family.
Contact Priests for Life at P.O. Box 141172, Staten Island, N.Y. 10314, Tel. 888 1PFL-3448, fax 718-980-6515, email pfl@priestsforlife.org, web site http://www.priestsforlife.org/.
Copyright ©1999 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 24, No 23,
dated June 10, 1999, on page 5.
.
E-mail:
letters@catholicherald.com
Fax: 703/524-2782;
Editorial: 703/841-2590;
Advertising: 703/841-2594;
Circulation: 703/841-2565
A note from the Web Master:
It is noteworthy and honorable that some folks are willing to stand up for a ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. Let us not forget that ordinary everyday run of the mill abortion is also murder. We must understand that murder is murder no matter the method. Because one method of abortion seems to be horrible does not make the other methods less so. We should be horrified and sickened by any abortion regardless of the method. The Fifth Commandment spells it out clearly:
"Thou shalt not kill."
A fetus is a person, a human being with a God given soul. Imagine the pain the Lord must feel when any abortion occurs. Please contact both of your Senators and Representative, via letter or phone, to let them know how horrified you are that abortions are legal and to stop Partial-Birth abortions and all other abortions as soon as possible.
(It has become apparent that they do not respond to
email therefore you will have more of an impact by writing or telephoning.)
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