Editor's Note
Respecting the Life We Share
As we were preparing our cover story on Birthchoice, the Gabriel Project, Family Honor and Project Rachel for this Respect Life Month, I thought about how these efforts honor and protect human life at its beginning, but they also bring respect and comfort to adults in need of material, emotional and spiritual support. Jackie Bonk, Director of Project Rachel in our Diocese, put it this way: “Because the culture of death not only destroys the unborn but the souls and psyches of their parents, we have to act in two ways: We can work to prevent abortion, and we can Love the mothers and fathers of the unborn.”
The lives of the unborn, the lives of their parents and the parents’ understanding of the sacredness of human life are intimately connected. In the same way, each of us is connected to every one of our brothers and sisters. If we fail to reverence any human life -- the unborn, the immigrant, the prisoner, the mentally ill, the elderly -- we fail to reverence our own gift from God. What hurts one of us hurts all.
Thomas Merton wrote in his popular No Man Is an Island: “Every other man is a piece of myself, for I am a part and member of mankind. Every Christian is part of my own body, because we are members of Christ. What I do is also done for them and with them and by them. What they do is done in me and by me and for me. But each one of us remains responsible for our own share in the life of the whole body. Charity cannot be what it is supposed to be as long as I do not see that my life represents my own allotment in the life of a whole supernatural organism to which I belong."
Last year I mentioned a special project for this year’s March issue of NC Catholics. That issue comes out in Lent, when many of you will be praying the Way of the Cross. Is there one Station of the fourteen that speaks to you in a special way? Write me and tell me why. There’s no word limit on what you write, but I expect the versions chosen for the magazine will be edited to 50 words or fewer. You need not send your name if you prefer that it not be published; just identify your parish.
Since I made the announcement last year I’ve received several submissions, but I’m hoping for more. I’d really appreciate your participation by February 1. Thank you!
- Rich Reece