Obstacles to God’s Unimaginable Love

Where I go to Sunday Mass, the parish has something called a “teardrops ministry”, which is a group that prays for people who have stopped going to Mass.  On the first Sunday after the Dobbs v Jackson decision, the pastor also thanked God for ending Roe v Wade’s reign of terror.  While I usually frown on clapping at Mass, I immediately started applauding.  Though my applause was quickly joined by some others, I was surprised to see that it did not come from everyone in the congregation.

Of those not clapping, some may have (understandably) found applause to be inappropriate. Others may have disagreed with the Dobbs v Jackson decision.  If the latter, it seems that notions about the “teardrops ministry” need to be seriously expanded to people who are actually at Mass but not living the truth of the Catholic faith.

If a Catholic fails to embrace the magnificence of the sanctity of each and every human life and the sanctity of how God has intended human life to be transmitted, that person is being his own obstacle to God’s unimaginable love!  He may be attending Mass but is doing so in deep error.

Catholic Laity Picked Up the Ball

In the wake of the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision, I asked in a previous article: “Is it any wonder that Catholic lay people did not take the horrendous crime against humanity, abortion, with sufficient seriousness when Catholic leaders had dismissive attitudes about abortion?” With rare exception (e.g., Saint Pope John Paul II, Saint Theresa of Calcutta, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Father Paul Marx, Father Frank Pavone, Father Stan of NJ, the Sisters of Life, and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal), the post-Roe Catholic pro-life response was primarily spearheaded by unheralded laity rather than clergy or religious:

• Joan Andrews-Bell has shown us the grace to face prison in standing up for the humanity of God’s pre born children.
• My late friend Art never tired of calling on Church leadership to remind their flocks that being pro-abortion was inconsistent with being Catholic.
• From my own parish, NFP and pro-life advocate, Bethany, died very young but left indelible impressions on countless people.
• Year after year, tireless efforts of people like my buddy Ed kept buses of Catholics rolling down I-95 for the annual March for Life.
• Were it not for Nick Sandman, few would have realized that the annual March for Life was populated by so many Catholic high school students!
• I share at least one set of grandparents with Jimmy, Mary, and Patrick, each of whom reminds me of the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the transmission of human life – as does my “long suffering” and deeply beloved wife.
• My late work colleagues Hallie, Levonne, and Manny strengthened me by their courage on these issues.
• My “spiritual directors” Chet, Joe, and Joan are unafraid to give me a proverbial slap to the head and keep me in line when my rhetoric goes astray on these topics!

These are just a few of the selfless heroes of the pro-life movement that have come from the ranks of the laity and kept the flame of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life burning brightly in our society.

Broadening the Scope of “Teardrops Ministries”

In addition Catholics needing to follow Sunday Mass requirements, “teardrops ministries” should aim for everyone to understand, embrace, and treasure God’s plan for humanity.  God’s plan for our happiness and flourishing is readily identified in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  In the Catechism’s reflections on the 5^th, 4^th, 6^th and 9^th commandments are found unchanging truths on the sanctity of human life and on the sanctity of how human life is to be transmitted:

• Each and every human life from the moment of fertilization/conception until natural death must be absolutely respected.
• God’s plan is for new humans to originate in the loving embrace of their moms and dads, who are married to each other.
• Everyone is called to acknowledge their particular biological gender and to live the virtue of chastity.
• Sexual activity is to be treated with great reverence and absolutely reserved to husbands and wives within marriage.
• Husbands and wives are called to cooperate in God’s continuing gift of creation! So much for those misguided notions that the Church is anti-sex. If necessary, husbands and wives may avoid pregnancy by abstaining during fertile times.
• It is mom, dad, and children that constitute a “family” – an institution that public authorities must acknowledge and support.

Conclusion

While some may initially experience reminders about the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of how human life is one of the Gospel’s “hard teachings”, we need always to remind ourselves that they come from a loving God who absolutely desires our authentic happiness.  While some may have been keeping these teachings hidden under a bushel basket, we must trust God that proclaiming them will be part of the ultimate “teardrops ministry” bringing back our beloved family and friends.