DELRAY BEACH | With a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot that would expand abortion access in Florida to extreme levels, there was an urgency to the Diocese of Palm Beach’s commemoration of Respect Life Sunday Oct. 5-6, that hadn’t been seen in many years.
At the annual Steps for Life Mass and rosary walk Oct. 5 at Emmanuel Parish in Delray Beach, Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito asked God to continue to bless the efforts of Catholic Charities and its Birthline/Lifeline pregnancy care centers to reach and support women and families in distressing circumstances.
“What’s needed today, in all of the different things that we face is not more abortions,” he said. “What’s needed is more assistance to women who are in a difficult situation. And our Catholic Charities office, our Birthline/Lifeline offices, our Respect Life office do so much in that regard, and I’m very, very grateful to them.”
In Bishop Barbarito’s homily, exploring the first reading for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Gen 2:18-24), in which God creates woman as man’s suitable partner, he said how important it is to realize the tremendous gifts of life, family and marriage that come from God, but are often not accepted.
He said it’s ironic and hurtful that some people ignore or discount the opinions of those who believe in God’s plan for creation. “How sad it is to see us put aside as disrupting the rights of other people, of not wanting to give people rights because we say, ‘Well, this is the way things are. This is how God created things.’”
Most people understand the difficulties and shortcomings of life, the bishop said. The role of believers is not to make life more challenging for others or help them change God’s law, but to compassionately support them in the existence that God gave them, he said.
“As we celebrate this Respect Life Sunday — and as we celebrate it at a time within our nation which is so confused and so upside-down about the law of God, about the way God made things, about the way God created us — let us never, ever hesitate to know that what we live and what we believe is God’s law,” Bishop Barbarito said. “Not in the sense of an imposition, but in the sense to give us freedom, to make us happy, to know the meaning of life.”
At the conclusion of the liturgy, Katherine Bowers, director of Birthline/Lifeline, thanked the bishop for his leadership and convictions in defense of human life. She also thanked Emmanuel Parish and its pastor, Father Gaudioso Zamora, for their hospitality in hosting the Steps for Life events every year.
Providing life-affirming and compassionate support to women, children and families, the goal of Birthline/Lifeline is to inspire lifelong changes that empower their clients, Bowers said. “We see it every day, from the woman who sees her unborn baby for the first time and understands the help that’s available so chooses life, to the woman who realizes that, in order for her children to thrive, she needs to provide a stable, loving, complete home for them, and take steps in her own life to do so,” she said.
Many of those at the Mass joined her outside to pray the rosary as they walked the sidewalk around the scenic lake. One of the Women’s Pregnancy Solutions vans was parked next to the lake for visitors to tour. Students from St. Vincent Ferrer School in Delray Beach led worshipers in the prayers, then enjoyed pizza in the pavilion next to the church.
To learn more about Birthline/Lifeline’s services, visit www.birthlinelifeline.org. Contact the Respect Life ministry of Catholic Charities by emailing Deanna Herbst-Hoosac at dherbst@ccdpb.org or calling 561-360-3330. For information about Catholic Charities, visit www.ccdpb.org and follow the agency on social media.
