Ministries of Mercy - Life Ministries at 6363 9th Avenue North , St. Petersburg, FL 33710 US - Thoughts Of Life On Inauguration Day
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Thoughts Of Life On Inauguration Day |
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From: Sabrina Burton Schultz
Director of Life Ministry
I had the pleasure of traveling to St. Augustine on Jan. 17 to join about 1,500 other pilgrims for the Florida March for Life. My special thanks to all of our youth ministers and respect life coordinators for planning this pilgrimage. We had five busses of pilgrims from various regions of the diocese and others carpooled on their own. I was lucky to be traveling on the St. Catherine of Sienna Parish bus. It is hard to believe that the coordinators, Judy and Bonnie, were not event planners in a former life. They truly thought of everything. The March for Life speakers all reinforced the personhood of the unborn child. Our country once counted African-Americans as three-fifths of a person. Children in the womb count as even less by current societal standards.
Click here to see event pictures.
Director of Life Ministry
I had the pleasure of traveling to St. Augustine on Jan. 17 to join about 1,500 other pilgrims for the Florida March for Life. My special thanks to all of our youth ministers and respect life coordinators for planning this pilgrimage. We had five busses of pilgrims from various regions of the diocese and others carpooled on their own. I was lucky to be traveling on the St. Catherine of Sienna Parish bus. It is hard to believe that the coordinators, Judy and Bonnie, were not event planners in a former life. They truly thought of everything. The March for Life speakers all reinforced the personhood of the unborn child. Our country once counted African-Americans as three-fifths of a person. Children in the womb count as even less by current societal standards.
Click here to see event pictures.
I also had the pleasure on Sunday of attending the Mass for Racial Harmony at St. Clement Catholic Church in Plant City. It was beautiful to see the diversity of our Catholic family, gathered together to heal our wounds and beg forgiveness for our offenses. Fr. Carlos Rojas offered a beautiful reflection on his experience of arriving in Florida as a young man who had to struggle with labels, false assumptions and destructive stereotypes. The pain that he shared echoes that of many of our brothers and sisters, who are treated as less than a person because of the color of their skin or the strength of their accent.
Click here to see event pictures.
Click here to see event pictures.
While this weekend has renewed my sense of gratitude for my own life and the gifts that God has given to me, it has also encouraged me. The elections were a difficult time to be in my office. I received many calls reflecting fear, anger and trepidation. Some people were looking for encouragement, while others lashed out for what they perceived that the Bishop or I were failing to do. It became evident that not only was our country divided, so was our Church. I witnessed this division from the front row and I could not help but imagine the Devil cheering.
Many years ago, when I was in youth ministry training, our teacher said that God gives every community the gifts that it needs to meet the needs of the Body of Christ. I remember those words almost daily now. When my work is of God and I am properly calling people to ministry, the laborers are provided. When I press ahead with my own agenda, frustrated at my hard work and lack of progress, I have to realize that my plans may not be of God.
If we believe that God has given our community the gifts that we need to meet the needs of the Body of Christ, then we need to respect one another’s God-given gifts and talents. Likewise, we need to honor the various passions that God has given to our sisters and brothers in faith. Some are called to work for the unborn, some are called to combat human trafficking or seek justice for immigrants. Some are passionate about the environment and global climate change while others cannot bear to pass a homeless man or woman without offering assistance.
God is calling each of us to be good and faithful servants, each in our own way. May we rightly discern God’s call and live it profoundly. Together, may we help the oppressed to claim their basic human rights, the most fundamental of which is the right to life. In so doing, we become the hands, feet, eyes, ears and lips of Christ.
We are called to be nothing less.
God is calling each of us to be good and faithful servants, each in our own way. May we rightly discern God’s call and live it profoundly. Together, may we help the oppressed to claim their basic human rights, the most fundamental of which is the right to life. In so doing, we become the hands, feet, eyes, ears and lips of Christ.
We are called to be nothing less.