Pro-life
Preaching Hints
October 17 - Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ex 17:8-13
2 Tm 3:14—4:2
Lk 18:1-8
Today’s
readings are not only focused on the efficacy of prayer, but
more specifically on the efficacy of prayer amidst battle and
conflict. In the first reading, it is a battle for the very
survival of God’s people against fierce enemies; in the Gospel,
it is a legal battle for justice.
The connection with
the pro-life movement is clear on both the theme of prayer and
conflict. In “The Gospel of Life,” John Paul II wrote, “It is
possible to speak in a certain sense of a war of the powerful
against the weak: a life which would require greater acceptance,
love and care is considered useless, or held to be an
intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected in one way or
another. A person who, because of illness, handicap or, more
simply, just by existing, compromises the well-being or
life-style of those who are more favored tends to be looked upon
as an enemy to be resisted or eliminated. In this way a kind of
"conspiracy against life" is unleashed. This conspiracy involves
not only individuals in their personal, family or group
relationships, but goes far beyond, to the point of damaging and
distorting, at the international level, relations between
peoples and States” (n. 12).
The efforts of those who
build a Culture of Life must be sustained by prayer but not
limited to prayer. Moses’ hands sustained in prayer were
essential to victory, but the Israelites also had to fight.
Likewise, we must pray for an end to abortion, but we must also
speak, organize, lobby, vote, protest, and intervene.
In
both the first reading and the Gospel, the themes of “justice,”
“deliverance,” and “securing rights” make for particular
application to the unborn and vulnerable.
Finally, this
homily can provide an opportunity to invite people to join in
the daily prayer campaign to end abortion, as found at
www.ProLifePrayerCampaign.org.
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