This wee= kend our church celebrates Respect Life Sunday. The Catholic Church supports respect for life from womb to tomb. Almost everyone knows of our opposition= to abortion, but fewer know about our opposition to the death penalty, or even= our support for workers’ rights, good health care, international economic justi= ce, and peaceful solutions to conflicts at home and abroad. I have long been a supporter of Amnesty International, which was founded to support prisoners of conscience held un= justly throughout the world. Over the yea= rs, Amnesty’s influence grew and its areas of interest expanded. This year I sadly ended my relationship= with the organization when it came out in favor of global abortion rights. The organization veered into an area be= yond its expertise and caused many Catholics to make a choice we did not want to make. I continue to support other organizations that feed the hungry, provide jobs for the unemployed, and advocate for the poor.

God has = given us the gift of faith, and we need to nourish it.= One way we nourish it is by using it. We use it when we pray, but also when w= e take some action on behalf of others.

This is = behind the parable and the teaching of Jesus in today’s gospel. He says when workers come in from the <= span class=3DGramE>field, the employer does not welcome them to sit at the table like a member of the family. Workers who do their job are good, but something more is required to= be considered a close friend or relative. With the gift of faith, we are workers in God’s field. But if we only do the minimum with rega= rd to our faith, we are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged = to do. Instead, we look for other way= s to engage our faith. We contribute to= the support of the church; we volunteer here and at other organizations in the community; we write letters to journals and politicians to express our view= s on behalf of life; we learn about our faith and teach it to others; we take ca= re of the sick and the aged, the infant and the student. We do all these things because we care = for others, because our faith in God tells us that all human life deserves to be respected.

Sometime= s we get discouraged. We may be tempted= to think we cannot make a difference in the world, but we can. That is the point of Jesus’ first sayin= g in this gospel. If you had faith the = size of a mustard seed you could command mulberry trees to move, and they would obey. Catholic= s have accomplished great things in this country on behalf of workers, the poor, t= he sick, and the aged. The eff= ort we put into living our faith continues to have an effect in our society. We do not slacken. We keep our voice strong on behalf of t= he defenseless, and we ask God to help us help them. Every human life is precious in God’s eyes. God makes every human being = with an intention. When we support human life, when we do more than we are obliged to do, we respect what God has ma= de, and we make the world a better place.