Denver Catholic

2 OCTOBER 22-NOVEMBER 11, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page General Manager KARNA SWANSON Director ANDREW WRIGHT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January. Denver Catholic is printed by Prairie Mountain Publishing, LLC in Boulder. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $35 a year in Colorado; $42 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $42 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $48 air; Canada, $55 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. EDITORIAL: 303-715-3230 or denvercatholic@ archden.org. ADVERTISING: 303-715-3253 or denvercatholicads@archden.org. CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE: 303-715-3230 or circulation@archden.org. Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE OCT. 22: White Mass before Gospel of Life Conference, St. Thomas More, Centennial (8:30 a.m.) OCT. 23: Opening Mass for Pilgrimage Year, Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Lakewood (11:30 a.m.): Mass honoring wedding anniversaries, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Northglenn (2 p.m.) OCT. 27-NOV. 1: Archdiocesan pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico city NOV. 2: Archbishop's Lecture Series, Refectory, St. John Paul II Center (7:30pm) NOV. 4: Mass of Episcopal Ordination for Auxiliary Bishop-elect Jorge Rodriguez, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (12:30 p.m.) NOV. 9: Year of Mercy Penance Service, St. Joseph Parish, Fort Collins (7 p.m.) NOV. 10: Memorial Mass for 25th anniversary of death of Father Woody, Holy Ghost Parish (7 p.m.) Know the cracks in the foundation E very year we observe October as Respect Life Month, with the goal of spreading aware- ness of the importance of protecting life at every stage and rededicating ourselves to the cause. To do that eƒ ectively, we need to understand the root problems leading to the attacks on life and work to counter them. Over the last few years, events in our nation such as the decision by the Supreme Court to redefi ne marriage, have reminded me that the eƒ ort to defend life is much broader than we often realize. When we speak about life, what naturally springs to mind is safeguarding the unborn, the elderly and the vulnerable. But the fact is, abortion, sexuality and the family are all intertwined. And the way that we treat the most vulnerable and precious things in life eƒ ects how we treat the poor, those on death row, immigrants and refugees. In 2018, it will have been 50 years since Blessed Pope Paul VI issued his momentous encyclical Humanae vitae on the transmission of human life. Too few people know that the Holy Father was able to foresee the societal and relational fallout from widespread use of contraception because he understood that contra- ception separates the unitive and pro- creative aspects of sexual intimacy. He realized that when you tamper with the gift of life, you impact rela- tionships, marriages, the treatment of women and attitudes toward unborn children. The accuracy of Blessed Pope Paul VI's predictions is stunning. He fore- saw that widespread use of contra- ception would do four things: 1) "lead to conjugal infi delity and the general lowering of morality," 2) that men would lose respect for women and "no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium," so that he would consider her "a mere instru- ment of selfi sh enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion," 3) it would place a "dan- gerous weapon... in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies," and 4) it would lead man to think that he had unlim- ited dominion over his own body. Who can argue that all this and more has come to pass in the last 48 years? We see that around 45 per- cent of marriages end in divorce, that one-quarter of Millennials will not even get married, that women have become objectifi ed – especially through pornography and sex traf- fi cking – that Colorado and other states have engaged in a campaign to insert IUDs into poor women and teens, and that the sterilization is the leading form of contraception used by Americans. Abortion itself is also linked with a contraceptive mentality, since the idea that it is acceptable to kill one's unborn child essentially says, "If a child is too diœ cult to have right now, I can prevent that from happening." Sexual intimacy and having a child, in other words, are separable. By striking at life at its very begin- ning, the Evil One knew that he would be able to impact not just the child but whole families, countries and even humanity as a whole. In this struggle, the words of God to Adam, Eve and Satan after the fall are born out. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15)." This makes what Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the visionaries from Fatima, wrote to Cardinal Carlo Caf- farra all the more relevant. Cadinal Caƒ arra decided to write to Sr. Lucia to ask for her prayers after Pope John Paul II had entrusted him with founding the Pontifi cal Institute on Marriage and the Family. He did not expect a reply, but he got one. She wrote: "The fi nal battle between the Lord and the Kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family." Some recent developments in sci- ence and law make the impact of cast- ing God aside apparent. These include the creation of human embryos with material from three diƒ erent parents, the push to legalize doctor-assisted suicide, and the attempts to redefi ne gender, to name a few. The loss of God in society and the resulting distance from the created order is leading to a further slide down a slippery slope that ends in a profoundly inhumane culture. A culture since it does not believe in God, unwittingly gives reign to the Evil One who desires to remain hidden and destroy the dig- nity of human life. In October as we work to defend life, it is important to remember that unborn children – because of their innocence and defenselessness – deserve our special protection and fi rst protection. At the same time, we should also be aware that the ideas behind the attacks on life are impact- ing relationships, families and whole societies. We must work to counteract this with the loving presentation on the truth about sexuality, and shar- ing it with others in a merciful and honest way. My heart is always fi lled with gratitude to the Father when I see young people receive the truth on human sexuality and the joy and hap- piness that comes to them. Sr. Lucia told Cardinal Caƒ arra that he should expect attacks, because "whoever works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought against and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue." The devil will always attempt to undermine the family for it is the fi rst society and the heart of every society. "Nevertheless," she concluded, "Our Lady has already crushed his head." Let us take courage and never fail to defend life, especially when it is at its weakest. No matter how dark our times may seem, we must always remember that in Jesus Christ the battle is won! Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila greets a parishioner at St. John's Parish in Stoneham, where he presided a special Mass celebrating the parish's 100th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 16. PHOTO BY ANDREW WRIGHT

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