​October: Month of Rosary and Respect Life!

​October: Month of Rosary and Respect Life!
 
St. Francis of Assisi is celebrating their patron Saint Francis’s feast day. He had a great love God’s creatures. I love taking the pictures, especially in fall. I call it “paintings from God.” Look at God’s creation, it is wonderful.
 
The month of October is Respect Life month. The Respect Life Program begins anew each year on the first Sunday in October. This year the theme is “Every Life: Cherished, Chosen, Sent.”  Respect the dignity of life without any discrimination: ability or disAbility; strength or weakness. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Chairman of Pro-Life Activities, in his words, “We are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between.”
 
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five- and six-year olds. After explaining the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill." This is the main message for “Respect for Life Sunday.” Be a voice for voiceless. We are masterpiece of God’s creation. Based on the word of God, the Church teaches that an unborn child from the moment of its conception in its mother’s womb is precious because it carries an immortal soul. The Bible teaches that life is a gift of God and hence we have to respect it from womb to tomb.
A couple of years ago, I read Pope Francis’ message, and he conveyed that “even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
 
The month of October is the month of the Rosary. The rosary is a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the rosary we walk through the life of Jesus. On October 7, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII officially dedicated the month of October to the Holy Rosary. We use Rosary beads to pray, and other religions also use beads to pray. There is a scientific reason for using beads: sometimes we will say I don’t have to use Rosary beads to pray Rosary, it is old fashioned. When we use Rosary beads to pray the Rosary, it stimulates the nerves of our fingers and helps us concentrate. In the month of October we will be reciting the Rosary before the weekend Masses. Please come early and join for Rosary every weekend during October and at Immaculate Conception on Saturday, October 13 at noon for a Rosary rally.
 
This year, our cluster will be praying for and bringing the message of respect life in a couple of dimensions. On the first weekend, we pray for unborn life: aborted babies, babies lost through miscarriage, and so on. The second weekend, we celebrate Inclusion Awareness Sunday: pray about our own abilities and disabilities. At the same time, it is an opportunity to invite people with disabilities to actively participate in our parish community. On October 19, at 10:00am at St. Anthony’s we celebrate a Healing Mass, joining with elderly and sick to receive Sacrament of Anointing. During the third week, we celebrate Mission Sunday: praying for missionaries. On the fourth Sunday we will be praying for people affected by domestic violence and human trafficking.
 
Respect Life month invites us to reflect on the dignity of life and evaluate how we respect one another’s lives. Let us make a promise to pray Rosary this month and pray for peace, human life, and family.