By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz called on the faithful at the Memorial Mass for Life Jan. 17 to “pray for life” and “to reach out to those who need to be assisted.”
The archbishop told the 750 or so people gathered at St. Martin of Tours Church, 636 S. Shelby St., that “we recommit ourselves today to stand up for life.”
The Mass is celebrated annually near the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, the case which legalized abortion-on-demand in the U.S.
In his homily, the archbishop recalled the day’s Gospel account of the wedding at Cana — the first miracle attributed to Jesus. In the Gospel, the Blessed Mother said, “Do whatever he tells you,” Archbishop Kurtz noted.
“ ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ These are words you and I need to hear today at the pro-life Mass,” he said.
Archbishop Kurtz added that mercy is best defined as a meeting. Mercy, he said, happens when love meets human misery.
“Any time that love, true love, meets
human misery, the result is mercy. Throughout all of sacred Scripture and especially the Gospel passages … when the love of Christ touches and meets human misery … mercy results,” he said.
In this jubilee Year of Mercy, Archbishop Kurtz said, the Holy Father “calls us to reach out to others.”
The archbishop also announced that the archdiocese will host its first Life Conference later this year. Parishioners from the four dioceses in Kentucky and the three in Tennessee — which compose the Province of Louisville — will be invited to attend the October event.
Near the close of the liturgy, Jane Peak, who along with her husband, Mike, organized the Memorial Mass for Life, thanked those in attendance for their witness to life. Representatives from schools, parishes and organizations in the archdiocese were called forward to accept a red rose as a symbol of their commitment to the pro-life cause.
Peak commended those present for their commitment “to respect all human life” and said they were “the good news” in the 43-year struggle of the pro-life cause.
“Those of you who have remained faithful from the beginning. … Those of you who brought your children to witness this public display of respect for human life, yes, you are the good news,” Peak said.
