Florida Catholic | Editorial

Unceasingly

Published: 01.25.08

With the right approaches — praying, dreaming, living, learning — we can look forward to unity, diversity of cultures, protection of life and a commitment to grow unceasingly.”

Around this time of year, we have many occasions to participate in various celebrations, commemorations or demonstrations. All in the space of a couple of weeks, we have: the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 18-25); the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (Jan. 15, celebrated Jan. 21 this year); the March for Life in Washington (Jan. 22); and Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 27-Feb. 2).

These seem like a disjointed lot of commemorations, but actually they can be threaded together as parts of a shawl, especially helpful as January temperatures dip, even in Florida. For example, prayers for Christian unity are based on Christ’s call — and hope — that “all may be one.” Dr. King strove to bring all in the human race to see each other as people, not as races, “judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” At the annual March for Life, we will mark 35 years of legalized abortion in the United States and people from all walks of life will plead that the unborn be recognized just as human as you and I who are born. And Catholic schools will continue to teach that each person is a child of God, created for God’s glory.

There are further parallels, perhaps. Pope Benedict XVI chose as the theme for this year’s Christian Unity Week, “Pray Unceasingly” from the First Letter to the Thessalonians. As people who pray without ceasing, we can put an end to a host of evils in the world, evils such as racism, abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment and other threats to life. We can add to our prayer intentions many positive, affirmative thoughts: Christian unity, unity of nations, unity of peoples, unity of spouses and families, prayers for vocations and prayers for healing, prayers of praise and thanksgiving.

Dr. King spoke so eloquently of his dream. Maybe in this year that we “pray unceasingly,” we might “dream unceasingly.” Dream, as Dr. King did, for brotherhood, that we see all men are created equal, for freedom and justice. If we can dream without ceasing and work to make those things happen, many prayers will be answered. Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., now is a pro-life activist who speaks around the country against abortion, and she is one who knows, having had two abortions herself before being born again in Christ and converting to the pro-life cause. She now dreams of a day when every person is loved and respected — born or unborn.

At the March for Life in Washington, and local marches around the country, the message goes out to the Supreme Court and the legislative and executive branches: “Life, Unceasingly!” From the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, it’s not our choice to end life. We want to live; we want others to live. That’s why so many churches, Catholic and other faiths, reach out to help the unborn and mothers with unplanned pregnancies. When the babies are born, the mothers are helped to place the child for adoption or helped to raise the child. That’s why Catholic agencies such as Catholic Charities and St. Vincent de Paul, among others, provide social services to the elderly and the poor, so that they are served with dignity.

Our Catholic schools might take up the slogan, “Learn Unceasingly” to note how life is improved with a Catholic school education. Grounding in the fundamentals, enhanced with critical thinking skills and a wide range of subjects well prepares a student to learn for a lifetime.

With the right approaches — praying, dreaming, living, learning — we can look forward to unity, diversity of cultures, protection of life and a commitment to grow unceasingly.

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Unceasingly

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