Respect Life Sunday: A time to pray, a time to witness

As Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, I consider it a privilege to invite all members of the Diocese to remember and share our conviction as Catholics with everyone you meet that “every life is worth living.”

These words are the theme of this year’s “Respect Life Month” and they flow from hearts touched by the Lord Jesus who “came that you may have life and have it to the full” (John 10: 10).

In his recent visit to Cuba, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, said: “Children aren’t loved, they’re killed before being born.  The elderly are thrown away because they don’t produce.  Some countries have euthanasia.”

The Pope’s comments reflect the sad reality that has taken hold of contemporary society, our “throwaway culture”: widespread disregard for human life at all its stages, from conception to natural death.  No choice, no so-called ‘right’ trumps the sacredness of human life, every human life.

I urge all Catholics to pray and re-commit themselves to this gift of our Creator, especially during “Respect Life Month.”  It is coincidental that October is also the month of the Holy Rosary.  I recommend to all Catholics throughout the Diocese that, this year, the Rosary may become our “prayer for life” because “every life is worth living.”