"Persons Who Walk the Talk"

January 26, 2010

Year for the Priest

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

All of us are inspired by examples of persons who walk the talk.  We are amazed at the father or mother who takes a second job or denies themselves personal pleasures so their children can attend Catholic Schools, or participate in some special art classes or athletic competition.

We understand the devotion of the man or woman who cares for their invalid spouse or elderly parent.  They don’t complain; they don’t curse their lot.  They are living witnesses of a love that is realized in sacrifice.

Many rightly claim that the Church grows from the blood of martyrs.  There is the beautiful story of Miguel Pro, who when facing the firing squad shouted, “Viva El Cristo Rey!”   “Long Live Christ the King!”

Many young women approaching confirmation will take the name Maria, after Maria Goretti, who refused to submit to a sexual attack by Alessandro, a person known to her family.  It was either death or rape.  Maintaining her virtue she was stabbed some fourteen times.  This twelve-year-old girl, reflecting Jesus, forgave her murderer (who later repented and was present at Maria’s canonization).

Then, of course, there were the glorious early Roman martyrs who singing the Lord’s praises were marched into the “circus maximus” where they were brutally killed.  Their lives were taken for only one reason: They were Christians.

When, if ever, are we called to put it on the line?  We may not be called to be blood martyrs, but we certainly are called to stand for Church teachings in the face of a society that, at times, rejects this Church of Jesus Christ.

A few days ago some very brave young people represented our archdiocese in Washington D.C.  They marched for life.  Joined by hundreds of thousands of other people, they made their presence known.  A bus carrying students from Catholic Memorial High School stopped at my residence on their way to the airport.  I thanked them for their courage to stand against abortion and for life.  Wearing school t-shirts, we said a prayer and I gave them a blessing as they carried the spirit of the archdiocese on their flight.  Later, I was given a “hoodie” worn by the “Marquette High School Hilltoppers for Life,” as they marched for life in D.C.  I was touched by the fact that they borrowed a statement I made in my installation homily, “one must sacrifice for the truth.”

They got it.  This is Life.  They were sacrificing for that truth.  Benedict the XVI’s most recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate  (Charity in Truth), holds that we pursue truth with charity, because the goal is always to bring people to the Lord’s love through our adherence to the truth.  Yet even the obvious is not always recognized.

There were hundreds of thousands of marchers in Washington and they were pretty much ignored by the mainstream media.  Imagine, if you would, just 50,000 people appearing in downtown Milwaukee.  It would dominate the news.  Yet hundreds of thousands were ignored.  The unborn don’t vote.  The unborn aren’t seen.  The unborn screams are not heard.  But remember, these young people who were there eventually will vote.  They are seen and they will be the voice of those who are denied life.

Some 50 million abortions have been performed since 1973 and the Roe v. Wade decision.  The decision did not heal the nation, but instead further divided a nation.  Why, because the decision was simply wrong.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta and John Paul II are just two recent examples of champions of the cause of life.  They witnessed to the truth and faced angers, hostility and attacks.  But they sacrificed for the truth out of love.  When do we stand for the Church and its teachings?   I am proud as your archbishop to say that a number of our young people have, and our Church is stronger for it.

See you at Mass!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki

Archbishop of Milwaukee

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