Following is the prepared text from Bishop Olmsted’s homily for the Fall 40 Days for Life Kick-off Mass.
September 22, 2020
“Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.” Proverbs 21:4
Thanks be to God for these words in our First Reading from the Book of Proverbs. They remind us of the destructive nature of lies. Great harm results from falsehood; and in the end, what is built by lies is a house of cards. It cannot last. “Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.”
Standing trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus told him, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Disciples of Jesus listen to the voice of the Lord. It is the foundation of our identity and mission as Christians. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel today (Luke 8:21), “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” Acting on God’s word begins with obedience to the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” These words should always be kept in mind, in particular during an election year. As the Catechism teaches (CCC 2464),
“This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth…are fundamental infidelity to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant.”
The “unspeakable crime” of abortion is built on lies. That is why, as St. John Paul II reminded us (Evangelium Vitae, 58),
“…we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness’ (Is 5:20).”
When a society attempts to build on falsehood, division and discord are inevitable. Only the truth sets people free (Cf. Jn 8:32), unity and concord are impossible without the truth. As the Catechism says (CCC 2469), “Men could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another.” It is a great blessing to know the truth and to live by the truth. It unites us to Jesus and one another. As St. John wrote (1 Jn 1:6f),
“If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him, while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”
In a society that has grown hostile to truths it should hold dear, like God’s plan for marriage and the blessing of children, we need to ponder anew what Jesus tells us in the Gospel this evening. In three verses there are mentioned three times, the words mother and brothers. Jesus is told (Lk 8:20), “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” Did you notice that this passage has a good deal in common with another passage of three verses found in John 19:25-27, which reads,
“Standing by the Cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple there whom He loved, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.”
Notice that in both scenes we have the presence of Mary and the mystery of her relationship with Jesus’ disciples. In both passages, Mary and the disciples did not just stand; they persevered in standing (Cf. Erasmo, II, 172).” In John’s account, Jesus says to Mary and John, “Behold your son …Behold your mother.” In Luke’s account, Jesus says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” The price of being the Mother of the Messiah includes being the Mother of His brothers and sisters.
“Just as Jesus pours out His sonship that it may become ours, so too Mary must pour out her motherhood by allowing her Son to become the common property of all. More than any other creature, Mary is she who perseveres in standing by Jesus, tirelessly, doggedly, even in the face of His apparent rejection of her. …His family is made up of those who ‘do the will of my heavenly Father’ (Mt 12:50), which means those who are born of the same Father as he and are impelled by the same Spirit as He (Ibid).”
My brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I are not alone when we stand up for the unborn infants and their mothers. Jesus and Mary are with us, as are all the Saints and Angels. And they are interceding with us for those mothers who never grew up wanting an abortion and those employees who never wanted work in the abortion industry.
We stand in awe of the profound humility of Jesus. Even though He is, from all eternity, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He emptied Himself of His glory and took on the weakness of our human nature, becoming an infant in the womb of Mary so that He could humble Himself even more by suffering death on the Cross. By the astounding humility of Jesus in His crucifixion and then the glorious victory of His Resurrection, Jesus defeated the Father of lies, and brought redeemed sinners into the Kingdom of Heaven. And He continues to do that now: “Praised be His Holy Name! We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, for by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.”
My dear sons and daughters in Christ, we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Just as the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights as He was beginning His public ministry, so the devil constantly tries to lead us astray. But, if we “hear the word of God and act on it,” if we remain one with Christ through the obedience of faith, if we cling to Him in prayer and holy desire, He frees us from Satan’s power and equips us to be His witnesses to the Gospel of Life. By following Jesus and living in Him, we become beloved sons and daughters of His heavenly Father. Every woman facing a crisis pregnancy needs to encounter the Risen Christ, who brings freedom from the falsehoods of the Father of lies and restores her dignity as a beloved daughter of God.
Jesus our Redeemer has already entered “the enemy territory,” which we call human history. And He sends forth His friends in every age with words of exhortation like those of St. John Paul II: “Never tire of firmly speaking out in defense of life from its conception and do not be deterred from the commitment to defend the dignity of every human person with courageous determination. Christ is with you: be not afraid!”
