Jesus Christ has changed every human life and all of human history!

This is the good news of our faith!

By His coming in the flesh, to become a true man, like us in all things but sin, He has forever changed humanity.  By His death and resurrection, He has destroyed our death and restored our life. 

           
It is in the context of this good news that we now celebrate Respect Life Sunday.  The good news of Jesus Christ is a clarion call to rejoice and be glad.  The situation of the world around us, however, should give us pause to realize that the good news of Christ has not been fully received in the world.  And so we are called to pray.  We are called to pray that the good news of Christ might be proclaimed in an ever-new way. We are called to pray that a true Culture of Life might triumph over a very real Culture of Death.  As we meditate on these Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, let us keep in mind the call and the need to pray for a greater respect for life in all its many forms and stages.      

The Resurrection of Our Lord

            In His resurrection, Our Lord has shown us that the divine life of God is able to break through and destroy the bonds of death.  Having entered into our death, Jesus allows us to enter into His life.  Not only does He allow us to enter into His life, He actively invites us.  He says, “Come, follow Me!”  The Resurrection shows us that human life does not end in death.  God wills that all people be with Him and share in His intimate communion of love.  This involves forsaking all practices and philosophies that do not draw us closer to God, our ultimate end.  In meditating on the Resurrection, may we come to understand the great dignity of human life, and thus also come to share in the new and eternal life offered to us in Christ. 

The Ascension of Our Lord

            In His Ascension, the sacred and glorified humanity of Our Lord is forever exalted at God’s right hand.  However, Jesus does not ascend to the Father alone.  He wills to take all those who believe in Him and trust in Him to the Father also.  This is true beatitude, true blessedness!  If we follow Him who called Himself “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” we will also live with Christ at the Father’s right hand.  In our meditation on the Ascension, may we remember our call to true blessedness with God in heaven and thus find strength for our work of creating a true Culture of Life on earth.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit

            In the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we see a glimpse into God’s plan for humanity: we are not mere creatures made from the dust of the earth, but we are destined to have a share in the life of the Spirit.  The Spirit’s descent on the disciples gathered together in prayer is the realization of man’s deepest longings to be filled with the Spirit of God’s life and love.  The Descent of the Spirit is permanent.  The Spirit does not descend and then re-ascend, but He remains in the soul permanently and makes the soul His temple.  God dwells not only among us, but within us!  The human person has great dignity, because God has chosen to make the soul of man His dwelling place.  As we meditate on the Descent of the Holy Spirit, may we find the strength and the conviction to defend the dignity of human life in all that we say and do.

The Assumption of Mary

            In Mary’s assumption into heaven, we see God’s great esteem for motherhood.  Our Lord wanted His mother to be with Him in heaven.  Jesus indeed has a Father, God the Father, but He also has a mother, and she is not to be overlooked.  Motherhood is an exalted vocation, because mothers are called to take care of God’s children.  God cares for both mothers and children.  God is both “pro-woman” and “pro-child.”  As we meditate on the Assumption of Mary into heaven, may we find the conviction to care for both the well-being of mothers and the well-being of their children as we acknowledge the truth that God cares for all life, both born and pre-born.

The Coronation of Mary

            In Mary’s coronation, we see her exalted by God as the Queen of Life.  Mary’s coronation is the work and the gift of God.  It is her reward for saying yes to life, despite her unfavorable historical circumstances.  By her “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation, Mary became the mother of Christ our Life.  She became the Mother of Life.  From heaven, she now prays for us, that we too might have the courage to say “yes” to life, even despite unfavorable circumstances.  As we meditate on the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Life, may we become evangelists in her service, proclaiming, both by our lives and by our words, the Gospel of Life!

V.) O Mary, Mother of Christ our Life,

R.) Pray for us!