Catholic Transcript Online

With the opening of spring, we see new life, new growth, new beauty blooming around us. Crocuses appear in the land; there is more green in the landscape every day; robins add their serenade to promote the wonder of it all.

As I write this column, we are approaching Holy Week, the high holy days of our Church year. On Palm Sunday, we enter with Christ into the holy city Jerusalem, a procession which augurs the saving and triumphant mysteries of the week ahead. Our pilgrimage will journey through Holy Thursday and Good Friday to arrive at the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. There is no short cut. There is no cheap grace.

The highest excitement of all, the might of which moves our very soul, is Easter. Jesus Christ, Risen Savior, is our hope for new life, for all eternity. Through the sacred time of Holy Week, our spirits are stirred to more prayerful conversation with God, marking more intensely the recurring rhythms of incarnation, death, and resurrection.

Through the natural growth of the season and the spiritual power of this time, we appreciate more fully that our lives are gifts, God’s gifts, to be celebrated in communion with God and one another. In the context of prayer, we face the reality that in ictu oculi, in the twinkling of an eye, life’s candle can be snuffed out in full course. Life is a precious gift to be used responsibly.

In recent days, we have seen the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the President move forward the Health Care Reform Act. Obviously, life is very much at issue. The Catholic bishops of the United States have been advocating, for almost a century, greater health care coverage and insurance for the people in the United States. They have a distinguished record both in providing health coverage and in consistently promoting more effective health care.

The current act poses serious problems. It could promote, for the first time in decades, federal funding for abortion and plans that cover abortion. Whether people tolerate abortion or not, their tax dollars could be used in support of abortion. Yes, the president has now issued an executive order to forbid federal funding for abortion, but an executive order does not come close to the significance of statutory law. There are significant questions concerning the ability of such an order to persevere and be continually implemented.

As Francis Cardinal George, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has stated, "It is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that federal funds are not used for abortion services."

It must also be stated that the act is severely flawed because it has failed to include necessary language to provide essential conscience protections, both within and beyond the abortion context.

It appears that additional legislation to address the deficiencies of the act will be required.

The costs of the act, as time moves forward, will need continuing study.

We respect the good will of so many political leaders who have been involved in these matters, but we must continue to monitor ongoing developments and their impact on the moral and social climate of our country. Observation and advocacy will be of utmost importance.

There are already most healthy signs of spring in this year’s Annual Appeal. As of this writing, we have reached a total of $4,329,681, which is $438,528 higher than the total was at the same time last year. You show convincingly your sensitive knowledge and effective concern for so many people currently in tremendous need in our Archdiocese.

Jesus did come "that they may have life and have it to the full." I thank you profoundly for your clear appreciation of the wonder of God’s love, now and for eternity, and for "Returning the Lord’s Goodness."

Happy Easter!