An Encouraging Message From Deacon Jim Becker

An Encouraging Message from Deacon Jim Becker
Hannah Flanders

This morning (Sunday, February 11th 2007) at St. Mary & Mathias Catholic churches, Deacon Jim Becker gave a strong and moving homily at the 7:30 and 9:30 am Masses. The theme of his sermon was “Living the Beatitudes in our World Today”. He started by saying, “Today’s Gospel reminds us of Jesus’ message about salvation and what we need to do to be worthy of entering His Heavenly Kingdom. Here are the guideposts for living a holy life. In each of the three readings for today- the 6th Sunday of ordinary time-the message in each is to confront conventional wisdom. The thinking out in the world; the message is to think and act spiritually- not worldly. Those challenges did exist 2000 years ago. They will be with us as long as man and womankind inhabit the Earth.”
Following this statement, Deacon Becker’s homily showed ways and examples in which we can apply the Gospel and Beatitudes into our daily lives. He encouraged all to strive for eternal salvation and then listed the Beatitudes. I wanted to share his powerful and moving comments which he presented this morning:
“Blessed are you when people hate you. We may think that the persecution of Christians only happened in Roman times, yet it is happening today. TV and the media are predominantly anti-Christian. Here is a recent example: On January 22nd of each year since Roe vs. Wade was made legal (1973), people from across our land gather in Washington DC to remind our country that this is an unjust law. Over 100,000 fellow citizens gathered there this year! If you recall, there was not a peep in the secular media about this significant event. Even if it was covered by the national media, it would have focused on the Pro-abortion protestors.
What about those who would say, ‘But it [abortion] is legal, so why put up so much effort in fighting it?’ Well, we can answer, ‘So were Hitler’s death camps, Apartheid, and American slavery. All of these events were legal, but we can clearly see that they are wrong!’
Thanks be to God that EWTN covered the March-for-Life in its entirety!
I attended the Pro-Life Rally in Des Moines which was also held on January 22nd. The turnout was small given that it was held in our state Capitol. My feeling was Where are all the Pro-Life people? Is this all there is? All who were there were very enthusiastic, but too many of us are sitting on our hands- not in the game. Remember the words of Edmund Burke, “Bad things are made possible when good people choose to do nothing.” We need to win society’s minds and hearts, one person at a time.
12 million people were killed in Hitler’s death camps- 6 million Jews and 6 million other good and holy people as well. How could the law allow such cruelty to happen? Today, 47 million babies have been slaughtered since Roe v. Wade!
What are you and I doing about it? Others may march in DC and Des Moines one cold day out of the year, but what about the other 364 days of the year? If we choose to do nothing, is it because someone may dislike me? “Blessed are you when you act or speak up in My name.” Do you think John the Baptist was worried about being politically correct when he told King Herod that he should not be living with his brother’s wife?
We need your help in the Pro-Life movement. What can one person do?

1. Pray- Pray for a change of heart of people who work in this culture of death industry and also pray for all mothers to make the right choice- in choosing life.

2. Speak up for Life- Do not be afraid to defend those who have no voice in society. I was recently in a coffee table discussion and the topic of the war in Iraq was brought up. A man at the table was upset because the war in Iraq has killed 3000 American soldiers. I then took the opportunity to ask him if he thought 3000 was a large number. He eagerly replied that of course it was. Then I asked him if he though 4000 was a big number, and he agreed that it definitely was. After having his agreement thus far, I asked him if he realized that 4000 American babies die each day because of legal abortions. He immediately stopped talking and that was the end of the conversation. Later on, one of the people at our table approached me and thanked me for speaking up for life.

3. Support Pro-life Organizations- American Life League, Priests for Life, Birthright, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Radio (105.3 FM), Iowa Right to Life, and most importantly Muscatine Right to Life. Many of you may know that young Andrew Rauenbuehler started this new chapter all by himself. We must support his efforts and work together to stand as a Pro-Life community.

4. Read Pro-Life Material- Don’t waste your time keeping up on all of the secular media. Rather, use your time wisely and devote it to informing yourself on Pro-Life issues.

5. Watch EWTN- This is a great Pro-life as well as Catholic TV channel.

6. Support Pro-Life Politicians – Supporting a Pro-Life politician is not about party affiliation. There are pro-life candidates in both Republican and Democratic parties. Unfortunately, there is no Pro-Life party out there. We must use our judgment and support the Pro-Life candidates. In the USA, 272 Million dollars was taken from the Federal Treasury and given to Planned Parenthood- coming from our tax dollars! Right now, efforts to overturn the ban on human cloning are going on. Iowa Scientists may be receiving a license to kill human embryos. We must vote for Pro-life politicians to change these laws.

The Pro-death culture, a worldly and evil source, is big and powerful- we need your help! It is time to get out of the bleachers. There are many things that individuals can do. To be Catholic is to be Pro-Life- plus to act on it.
In the beatitudes Jesus has given us a profile of the type of person He wishes us to be. This is a serious set of instructions of what it means to be a Catholic Christian. In the words of St. Augustine, “Our Hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You.” Blessed are we place our hope and trust in God. Cursed are we if we place our hope and trust in the world.
May we act upon what we as Catholics believe and repeat in the creed at Mass each Sunday- “I believe in the Holy, Catholic Church.”
Let us live out the beatitudes on our journey to Heaven. Even if it means getting out of the bleachers.”