By Barb Arland-Fye
Editorial
Parents, grandparents, siblings and friends cheered from the stands as their favorite baseball players with disabilities swung the bat or scored a run at home plate on a warm Sunday afternoon on the cusp of fall. Some of the players, ranging in age from children to adults, used wheel chairs, some needed a little assistance selecting a helmet, swinging a bat or rounding the bases. None of the players or their families signed up for the challenges they face each day but their presence at this game is a sign of hope, a celebration of life, a declaration of the value of every person.
“Life: Our Sign of Hope,” is the theme for Respect Life Month, which begins Oct. 1, and reflects on the Jubilee Year of Hope that Pope Francis opened on Dec. 24. “The daily headlines remind us of how desperately our world is thirsting for the hope that only God can provide,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “This Jubilee Year we are challenged to be agents of hope to those whose hearts are burdened by trial, difficulty, or suffering, offering them the hope that comes from Christ Jesus alone,” continued Bishop Thomas, who leads the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio.
This year’s crises at home and around the world underscore the urgency of our call to bring hope to our suffering sisters and brothers. Bishop Thomas shared examples of the “overwhelming disregard for human life …” Among them: “rising rates of abortion and assisted suicide; the killing of innocent school children, even at prayer; the mistreatment of our immigrant sisters and brothers as they endure an environment of aggression; and political and ideological violence inflicted against unsuspecting victims. These attacks threaten life precisely when it is most vulnerable and in need of protection,” he said.
The late Pope Francis, in his papal document announcing the Jubilee Year of Hope (https://tinyurl.com/ycxmm4cc), provides a blueprint of sorts for each of us to be renewed in hope. Adapting his suggestions to our lives as Catholic Iowans:
- Read Scripture and reflect on and pray over it. “God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.”
- Be attentive to the inspiration, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who “illumines all believers with the light of hope.”
- Practice patience. “May we learn to pray frequently for the grace of patience, which is both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation.”
- Make time to get together with family and enjoy one another’s company. Visit loved ones, friends or acquaintances in nursing homes or assisted living residences.
- Consider jail or prison ministry and taking the training to participate in this ministry.
- Advocate for legislation in the Iowa Legislature that affirms the human dignity of all, laws that protect life at all stages – from the womb to the end of natural life. Advocate for affordable housing and healthcare for families and individuals, a living wage for workers, support for individuals with disabilities and their families, robust mental health services, and fair, easy-to-understand guidelines and procedures for nutrition assistance. One of the best sources for advocacy efforts is the Iowa Catholic Conference (iowacatholicconference.org), the public policy voice for Iowa’s bishops. Sign up for the ICC’s action alerts.
- Contemplate God’s creation with a sense of awe. Go outside and savor a sunrise, a sunset, plants and trees, rivers and streams.
- Volunteer at a meal site in your community, at Special Olympics, a shelter for people who are homeless or or a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. Help out at a pregnancy resource center.
- Offer respite to caregivers of individuals struggling with dementia or recuperating from illness or the family of a loved one with a developmental disability.
The Iowa Catholic Conference reminds us that respect for life includes ensuring life and human dignity. “Human dignity means those things that are necessary for a genuinely human life: food and water, clean air, shelter, clothing, education, health care, peace and security, a place to work. These are the goods we hold in common with each other and access in a similar way.”
We respect life year-round by giving hope in large and in small ways, like attending a baseball game and cheering on athletes with special needs.
Barb Arland-Fye, retired editor
