Walking With Moms in Need program challenges parishes to be examples of radical love for mothers and their babies
DETROIT — Being agents of the new creation means committing to a love that is grounded in fidelity, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron told parishioners gathered for the Mass for the Sanctity of Life.
The Oct. 6 celebration at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit coincided with the first Sunday of October, Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Vigneron said the Church’s call to protect human life, from womb to tomb, is rooted in love, a love that itself is rooted in fidelity, the faithfulness to commit to caring for a particular person.
Archbishop Vigneron recalled as a younger man reading the words of English monk Hubert van Zeller, “Fidelity is the only final guarantee of love,” which the archbishop said played a critical role in his understanding of what it meant to love someone.
“If a man says to a woman, ‘I love you, but maybe not tomorrow,’ you know that’s a lie,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Temporary love is as coherent at talking about a square circle or parallel lines that eventually meet. It’s a nonsense; love that is unfaithful.”
Archbishop Vigneron reflected on the liturgy’s Gospel reading from St. Mark, in which the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus about the legality of divorce according to the law of Moses. Jesus then revealed to the crowd God’s true intention for marriage.
“Today, we consider the instruction he gave in the Gospel in terms of this call to radical fidelity,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “In the first half of the Gospel, he corrects the compromise Moses is willing to make because of the hardness of the hearts of the people. When Jesus says there is no divorce, the basis for support for this is saying God planned in creation that marriage should be between one man and one woman, and that it would be for life.”
It is that total giving of oneself in marriage that then leads to the second part of the Gospel reading, where Jesus invites the children to come to him, saying to the crowd that unless they, too, become like children, they won’t be able to see the kingdom of God.
It is from this Gospel reading the faithful can glean what the Lord intends for marriage and family to be in the new creation, Archbishop Vigneron said.
“It means loving the little ones, not only after they are here, but before they are here,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “This new creation of faithful love is true now in cases of families by blood, but is also true now in the family of the whole community, the whole society. The new creation requires us to know and abide by God’s plans that are ancient, where we all are required to be faithful to our commitment to those who are powerless. Especially these days, as we remember those who are yet to be born, how we, as disciples of Christ, must be faithful to love and care for the unborn.”
This call to a radical love of the unborn, children after they are born, and adults all the way up until their time on earth has passed, is a call that is becoming increasingly countercultural in the world, making the faithful’s response to the call all the more central to the mission of the Church, the archbishop said.
“I acknowledge what I speak about is not easy,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Our witness as disciples of Jesus of the necessity to be faithful is countercultural to a world that believes in the primacy of the individual above all else.
“We defend marriage and fidelity; we defend the life of the unborn all throughout the world. We do this based on the teachings of Christ,” Archbishop Vigneron continued. “This is God’s work we are doing. It can be understood by all human reasoning, but is certainly clearer to us in the light of the teachings of Jesus Christ. So, in the 21st century, in the United States, this witness to the Gospel of Life is particularly appropriate and needed in our call for unleashing the Gospel today.”
Archdiocese of Detroit committed to building a culture of life
Before the final dismissal at the end of Mass, Archbishop Vigneron took the time to specifically address Respect Life Month and the Archdiocese of Detroit’s efforts to build a culture of life.
“As disciples of Jesus and citizens of the new creation, we are called to create a culture of life,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “In our own time, this especially involves re-establishing the protections of the right to life from conception to natural death and supporting mothers in need with compassion and grace so they, too, can love their children with a love that is faithful.”
Archbishop Vigneron addressed the upcoming U.S. general election and St. John Paul II’s call for Catholics in a democratic republic to advocate and support candidates who will defend the dignity of every person, born and unborn, but added that political representation is only one feature of building a culture of life.
“Laws are not enough; we must build a culture of life, a civilization of faithful love, the kind of love Jesus calls for in today’s Gospel, love that is nourished by the compassion that flows from the loving heart of Christ. We must build upon what so many in the local Church, so many of you gathered here, are doing to advance the civilization of love.”
Carolina Aguilar-Garibay, Gospel of Life engagement coordinator in the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, spoke with Detroit Catholic about the archdiocese’s Walking With Moms in Need program, in which parishes work with community organizations to build robust support services for women facing difficult pregnancies and living situations, getting the entire parish involved in supporting life.
For example, Aguilar-Garibay cited work being done at SS. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) Parish in Sterling Heights, where dedicated parishioners are not only supporting a mom in need with material needs and supplies, but have rallied the entire parish to pray for the mom, who remains anonymous, and her unborn baby.
“They are starting this weekend a spiritual adoption program, a beautiful program where the parish will adopt a baby and pray for the baby for nine months, ask Joseph, Mary and Jesus to protect the life of the unborn and save them, protect him or her against abortion,” Aguilar-Garibay said.
The spiritual support parishes provide through Walking with Moms in Need cannot be overstated, Aguilar-Garibay said. While it is necessary to provide for the material, financial and practical needs for a woman facing a crisis pregnancy, the spiritual accompaniment and prayers of support are just as critical in building a culture of life based on fidelity and love.
“We know we are in a spiritual battle; as the archbishop said, we need to keep praying, keep doing all we can do,” Aguilar-Garibay said. “We try to network with all the ministries in the parish and other organizations that are pro-life to have a stronger network to work with the moms to protect the unborn.”
Beyond just helping the mothers and their babies, Aguilar-Garibay said Walking With Moms in Need lays the groundwork for parishes to become true missionary centers that preach the Gospel of Life in their communities and become beacons of hope for all in need of God’s mercy and grace.
“When parishes really embrace Walking with Moms in Need, we see the community gets closer. We see they are filled with joy and hope when they see the works of mercy being done and bearing fruit,” Aguilar-Garibay said. “We see parishes like SS. Cyril and Methodius meeting every month to pray for the mother and the baby they are supporting, tracking the baby’s growth, putting the mother and the baby in the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass. They don’t know their names, but they are praying for them, they are loving them. And when you have a parish dedicated to loving this person, it makes all the difference.”
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