Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

God’s blessings! Hope your Christmas Season went well. With the celebration of the “Baptism of the Lord” last weekend, we now move into Ordinary Time until Lent. From the Old Testament reading, Isaiah writes to the people, “For the Lord delights in you” and, like the relationship between a bridegroom and a bride, “So shall your God rejoice in you.” God loves us and wants us to be filled with hope, people of life.

The Gospel from John tells the well-known story of the wedding at Cana. The wine ran short at the wedding celebration and Mary, the mother of Jesus, used her influence to persuade Jesus to use his gifts to remedy the situation. Jesus turned the water into wine, and it was the finest wine. This was the first public miracle of Jesus, “and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.” The Cana wedding shows how God is interested in our happiness. Cana is a beautiful place. My wife Peggy and I renewed our marriage vows there on a pilgrimage in 2009. It was life-giving.

In the 2^nd reading, from St. Paul to the Corinthians, we hear, “There are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” It goes on to show the many gifts that come forth from the Spirit, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, and discernment.  St. Paul emphasizes that they flow from the same Spirit and are not exclusive to a few individuals but that everyone shares in the gifts to some degree, and that they are “for the good of the community.” These gifts are life-giving, and we urge people to recognize them, use these gifts in their lives, and give thanks for them.

While we try to be people of hope, there are challenges. This week marks the 46^th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that allowed legal access to abortion in the United States. There have been approximately 60 million unborn babies aborted since then, which is mind-boggling. Thank you for supporting the Bowl for Life, a fundraiser for Mother & Unborn Baby Care that offers an alternative to abortion. Thanks to our youth and adults who attended a “March for Life” in        Chicago, Washington D.C., or elsewhere in the past week. As people of hope, we are called to be life-giving and stand up for life, realizing that the unborn children are not the only victims in an abortion, but so are the women and girls who have had abortions. We must not rush to pass judgment on them, but offer our healing support.      

While any abortion is offensive to me, it is alarming that in the United States, a developed country that promotes diversity and has laws against discrimination, how abortion is very discriminatory. Do you realize that unborn children who potentially might have Down syndrome are aborted at significantly higher rates? This is frightening, and it happens in the U.S.  In the country of Iceland, the government is proud that they have eliminated nearly every unborn child who might have Down  syndrome.  

Unborn children of color (African-Americans, for example), are aborted at significantly higher rates. This is appalling. Margaret Sanger, who is credited with starting the movement that eventually grew to become Planned Parenthood, actually targeted black people in trying to control the population at that time. Sanger could be described as a “eugenicist” and yet is held in high regard in some circles. Let us pray for people actively involved in the abortion business, especially at Planned Parenthood, the main proponent of abortion, for a change of heart.

Amazingly enough, abortions also occur for purposes of sex selection. With technology today, the gender of an unborn child can be determined in the womb. Children are being aborted because they might be the “wrong” gender. This is extremely discriminatory. In China, for example, in the recent past, unborn girls were being aborted at much higher rates than boys. Let’s pray for all victims of abortions, the babies, and the men and women involved in them.     

Deacon Steve Vande Hey