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| Patrick Delaney |
At their annual meeting in November 2012, the U.S. Catholic bishops launched a pastoral strategy addressing critical life, marriage, and religious liberty concerns. This strategy included first and foremost a call to prayer and sacrifice along with the activism of a nationwide postcard campaign.
In addition to the continued promotion of contraception and abortifacients in our schools, neighborhoods, and in international population control programs, and the resulting sadness and crime of widespread surgical abortion, two additional recent “flashpoints” elevated the urgency of our need for prayer and action.
First ‘flashpoint’: HHS Mandate
The first is the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate which requires almost all employers, including Catholic employers, to pay for employees’ contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs regardless of conscientious objections. Not only, therefore, are Catholics and other people of good will expected to live in a society which promotes these evils to our young people with our tax dollars, but now the government wants us to pay for and provide them ourselves within our own communities.
Each of these practices violate what Pope Benedict XVI called the “language of creation,” traditionally referred to as the Natural Moral Law, which proceeds from the Creator and is inscribed on the human heart. And attempting to force Catholic and non-Catholic citizens to violate the laws of God the Creator is a grave affront to America’s first freedom, religious liberty, as well as to the inherent dignity of every human person.
Second ‘flashpoint’: redefining marriage
The second “flashpoint” also involves the current trends in both government and the media culture toward attempting to redefine marriage as the union of any persons, ignoring marriage’s fundamental meaning and purpose as the universal institution that unites a man and a woman with each other and with the children born from their union.
The distinct nature of marriage is also self-evident in the order of creation. And being an institution which flows from creation itself, marriage precedes the authority of any state. Thus, the state only has a right and duty to recognize and promote marriage, but none to redefine it.
All of these challenges have moved our sacred pastors to invite all the faithful to draw close to Our Lord and ask Him for grace and protection for our society, our vulnerable brothers and sisters, and ourselves at this critical time.
These special efforts of increased prayer and activism should also increase our collective awareness and formation, as well as spiritual stamina and fortitude, permitting each of us to be effective and joyful witnesses to the truth of the natural moral law in faith, hope, and charity.
Prayer Campaign
The most important aspect of this pastoral strategy is the prayer campaign. We only need to look around us in both our personal lives and sometimes even in international events to witness the power of prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ referred to the power of prayer when He promised, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Mt. 18:19).
International news observers may have noticed something extraordinary which happened along these lines last fall as our government was moving toward the initiating of a bombing campaign in Syria. Pope Francis called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace on Saturday, Sept. 7, and the faithful throughout the world responded in their cathedrals, parishes, and homes. And what happened? The rhetoric and desire for war was unexpectedly and subtly diffused and replaced by a trend toward non-violence and peace.
In the same way our U.S. bishops are asking the faithful throughout our country to initiate new efforts of prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty. They suggest monthly Eucharistic Holy Hours in our cathedrals and parishes, a daily family Rosary, specific intentions in the Prayers of the Faithful during our Sunday Masses, along with abstinence from meat and fasting on Fridays.
With the proper charitable efforts of this campaign, we are assured of the unfailing help of Our Lord and the saints in these noble endeavors during this critical time.
Postcard Campaign
Flowing from our prayer life, we are naturally prompted by the Holy Spirit to particular concrete actions — according to our state in life and the circumstances in which we find ourselves — to help build Our Lord’s Kingdom on earth.
Though there are countless ways to respond to the present urgent call to defend and promote Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty, the U.S. bishops have provided one other means for all of us in addition to our prayer efforts. We must broadly communicate with our elected representative in Washington, D.C., to make our voices heard.
In order to facilitate this special call to (and role of) the laity, our bishops instituted a nationwide postcard campaign similar to an earlier campaign in 2009 which generated tens of millions of postcards to Congress and yielded great results.
In response, the Diocese of Madison began last fall with a first phase of this campaign in many of our parishes and Bishop Robert C. Morlino has requested the rest of our parishes to complete the initiative this month as close to the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision as possible.
Our local campaign is being facilitated by the Diocese of Madison Office of Evangelization and Catechesis with special help from a generous volunteer in the person of Mrs. Gwen Finnegan of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo. For information on how your parish can participate, contact Mrs. Finnegan directly at gwendo@centurytel.net or 608- 393-8545.
For more information on the campaign, as well as additional resources on how to educate and defend the truth about marriage, go to www.madisondiocese.org/oec or call the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis at 608-821-3160.
Patrick Delaney is director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis in the Diocese of Madison.