2nd Sunday - homily

On Tuesday night, one of the greatest priests of Washington will be leading our Tuesday discussion. Father Dan Leary is a good friend of mine who will be telling us “Stories of Healing”. He’s an amazing priest but is crazy. He’s nuts! He’s crazy funny and crazy holy. To give you a taste of his sense of humor: when Fr Dan was a seminarian, he played a practical joke on a pastor. He was stationed for a summer at a parish which had a house for the pastor. When the pastor went away on vacation, Dan Leary put a “For Sale” sign in front of the pastor’s house! People had stopped by and left messages about buying the house. When the pastor returned, he was not happy…! So, Tuesday night should be a lot of fun – Father Dan will probably make a good amount of fun of me- but it will also be really good. Fr Dan has a thriving healing ministry. He has been given the gift of healing and many people have experienced Christ’s healing through him. He is planning on bringing two women who have experienced healing through him.


It will be a timely discussion as we approach the March for Life. The women will speak to us about the healing they have received from the Church after having abortions. Fr Dan told me they are some of the most powerful people in his parish. He represents the Church so well in that he provides so much healing and mercy to women who have had abortions. Before I get into the March for Life, it’s important to point out that the Catholic Church provides more healing for women who have had abortions than any private institution in the world. Let me represent the Church’s outreach here: if you or anyone you know has participated in an abortion, I am here to help you in any way. My door is always open for healing and mercy.

The March for Life is coming up on Monday, January 24th. It is one of the greatest days of the year! Hundreds of thousands of people descend on the Mall to celebrate and defend life, most of whom are high school and college students. Young people are actually leading the March now! One of the reasons they are so involved is that they see abortion as the greatest injustice of our time. Also, they realize that they could have been aborted; thank God their mothers and your mothers chose life! If you’ve never been, you’ve got to go. In fact, every GW Catholic should make every effort to be involved in the March for Life in one way or another. There will be thousands of college students there from all over the country. They will make many sacrifices to be there: taking off more than day of classes, driving many hours in cars or buses, sleeping on floors, going without showers, etc. I am asking GW Catholics to sacrifice, too: take the day off from classes on Monday the 24th. I know, big sacrifice!

There are two things we are offering you to be a part of the March. The first is the Rally and Mass for Life at the Verizon Center. It rocks! There will be 25,000 young people there celebrating life and faith. The group from GW that went last year really enjoyed it. Amy will take a group of 25 of you. You will meet at 7 am at the Newman Center (again, sacrifice!) and spend the morning there. Then, you’ll come back to Newman for lunch. For those who can’t go to Verizon, I will celebrate a Mass at 12:45 at Newman. Then, we’ll have lunch with the group from Verizon and walk down to the March. We’ll even give you a “GW Catholics for Life” scarf to help keep you warm. Everything is free except transportation back from the March or if you want to get food and beverages on Capitol Hill afterwards. You need tickets for the Verizon Center, so please sign up after Mass.

Why do we march? We march to represent. God calls us to represent life, especially life in the womb. God loves life. He loves babies – He became one of them! God loves life and hates abortion. He calls us to represent life, defend life, and march for life. So, we represent life, especially life in the womb. The womb is one of the most sacred places on earth. This is where God first lived on earth. It should be one of the safest and most peaceful places on earth, but it has become one of the most dangerous. Did you know that there over 3,000 abortions in the United States every day? More Americans die every day to abortion than on 9/11. Unborn babies are the most defenseless people on earth. They are people, and they cannot defend themselves. So, we defend them. There are among those who Jesus calls “the least of my brothers and sisters” in Matthew 25. He will judge us based on how we treated them and all the poor.

God speaks about life in the womb many times in Scripture. We have one of the main lines from Isaiah 49 in tonight’s first reading: “God formed me as his servant from the womb”. God formed me as his servant from the womb. Before Isaiah was ever a prophet, he was God’s servant…from the womb. Before any of us become students, teachers, lawyers, priests, or whatever, we are God’s servants first and foremost. God formed each of us from the womb. He formed us personally: He gave us our personalities, gifts, and vocations. Whenever I celebrate a wedding, I say to the couple that when God created you, he had your wedding day in mind…He had my ordination day in mind. He gave each of us our vocation in the womb! He formed us spiritually: He gave us our souls at conception. He formed us physically: He gave us our bodies in the womb. At conception, each of us had our own DNA. Eighteen days later, we had beating hearts. Twenty-five weeks later, we could hear like adults and even pick up on our mothers’ moods. He formed each of us from the womb…as His servants.

Finally, brothers and sisters, as we prepare to receive the grace of the Eucharist, let us be not afraid. Be not afraid to be God’s servants in the world. Be not afraid to do His Will and live holiness. Be not afraid to answer His Call whatever it may be. Be not afraid to be pro-life and defend life in all stages. Be not afraid to march for life. There will be others telling you not to go – friends, roommates, even family members. Don’t do the will of others, do God’s Will. On January 24th and in life, be not afraid to live out the words of our psalmist, “Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will”.