Denver Catholic

2 MAY 12-25, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE MAY 12: Confi rmation Mass, St. Vincent de Paul, Denver (10:30 a.m.) MAY 13: Mass, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Thornton (9 a.m.) MAY 15: Confi rmation Mass, St. Frances Cabrini, Littleton (7 p.m.) MAY 19: Priesthood Ordination, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Denver (10 a.m.) MAY 19: Mass, Holy Name Catholic Church, Sheridan (4:30 p.m.) MAY 20: Confi rmation Mass, St. Martin de Porres, Boulder (10:30 a.m.) MAY 22: Confi rmation Mass, St. Anthony of Padua, Denver (6 p.m.) MAY 23: Holy Family H.S. Baccalaureate Mass, Spirit of Christ, Arvada (7 p.m.) MAY 24: Machebeuf H.S. Baccalaureate Mass, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Denver (7 p.m.) @ArchbishopDen May 5 #PopeFrancis gives thanks for the 50 years of the #NeocatechumenalWay and calls them to evangelize - to go out into all the world! Blessings on the #Way & all of their missionary activity! They are a blessing for #ArchDen! +sja 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: $50 a year in Colorado; $57 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $57 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $63 air; Canada, $70 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. CIRCULATION: denvercatholic.org/circulation Editor AARON LAMBERT Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Our Lady of Loreto School eighth grader Arsema Zerabruk crowns a statue of Mary during a Mass on May 4. Archbishop Samuel Aquila cel- ebrated Mass at the Foxfi eld parish and blessed the Our Lady of Fatima statue, which will tour parishes and schools as part of Catholic Charities Respect Life Oˆ ce's initiative to encourage families to pray. PHOTO BY NISSA LAPOINT How we protect life determines our future T he moment you fi rst see a child on the ultrasound monitor at the doctor's o ce is truly breathtaking. You see the baby moving, you hear its heart beating — there in front of you is new life, the fi rst blessing bestowed by God on man and woman at their creation (Gn 1:28). Man and woman are called to be co-creators with God as the two become one fl esh in their child — a gift from God. Sadly, our country, and many others around the world, have silenced these small miracles and vulnerable children like Alfi e Evans with appeals to false or lesser rights. The gravity of these attacks on life demands that we boldly and lovingly speak out against these lies and actively support life at all stages, even when it's inconvenient, because society's future hangs in the balance. Like many people and Pope Fran- cis himself, I followed the plight of little Alfi e Evans with concern and my prayers. I was encouraged when the Holy Father met with Alfi e's father Tom and then held a moment of silence to pray for the Evans family at his Wednes- day General Audience. The Pope told the attendees at the audience that he wanted to "reiterate and strongly con- fi rm that the only master of life, from the beginning to the natural end, is God! And our duty, our duty is to do every- thing to preserve life." Days later, when Alfi e received Ital- ian citizenship, it seemed that there was a chance that this innocent almost two-year-old boy might be treated as a person with human dignity and inher- ent rights given to him by God. But in the end, the British government cast those rights aside and determined that it was the master of Alfi e's life, that removing medical treatment and pre- venting him from receiving alternative care was in his "best interests." Alfi e, like Charlie Gard before him, became a victim of the throw-away culture that Pope Francis has warned about so often. This government coercion is not unique to Europe, either. On May 3, some members of the Colorado House of Representatives introduced House Bill 18-1438, which would have required all employers that o› er health insur- ance to pay for plans that cover abor- tion, sterilization and contraception. While there was a religious exemption included, it would not have covered business owners who object to these procedures or organizations like Cath- olic Charities that serve the public. Thankfully, the bill died in committee, but it will likely return next year. In Ireland, another battle is playing out as the country prepares to vote on May 25 about repealing the 8th Amend- ment of its Constitution. This amend- ment rightly recognizes the equal right to life of mothers and their unborn children, but it is under threat from an organized campaign that includes endorsements from celebrities like U2 and the singer Mary Black. Our country has benefi ted spiri- tually and culturally from the many Irish men and women who emigrated here throughout the last two centuries, bringing with them their faith, culture and generous embrace of life. The exis- tence in Ireland of the 8th Amendment is a testament to this longstanding openness to life. I strongly encourage you to join me in praying for a successful defense of the lives of Ireland's unborn children in the lead up to the May 25 vote. And if you can vote in the referendum, I ask you to consider traveling to Ireland to do so. Human life refl ects God and any time the Evil One can attack it, he will. He does so by cunningly trying to convince us that life is no longer "in our best interests," or "that the dignity of the human being is decided by each person or the state and not by God," whether it is ending an unborn child's life, cutting o› food and a ventilator for Alfi e Evans, encouraging people to commit suicide, treating the homeless or immigrant with disrespect, or encouraging human tra cking, the message is the same. We must counter these lies with the loving and sometimes sacrifi cial embrace of all life. We must humbly acknowledge that God knows the full potential of our lives better than we do and that he alone should determine when they end. In our prayer let us ask God the Father of all life, to help us love life as he loves life, to love as he loves — to treat all life with dignity and reverence, both in our lives and in our laws. As Saint Gianna Molla so insightfully said, "Love and sacrifi ce are closely linked, like the sun and the light. We cannot love with- out su› ering and we cannot su› er with- out love." Standing up for the unborn and vulnerable will involve su› ering, but doing so will grow our hearts to be formed after the heart of Jesus and determine the future of our society.

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