Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’ Oct. 3, Oct. 10, Oct 24, Oct 31, 2008

November 14, 2008

Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’
Election

by Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

We extend our congratulations to our President-elect Barack Obama. Pope Benedict XVI has already done so. This is truly an historic achievement. It should be an inspiration to all United States citizens that race should not be a barrier to success. We are happy that his election brings new hope and enthusiasm to the young and the poor of all races.

At the same time, it means that we need to work harder than ever for the cause of fundamental life issues. We know that President-elect Barack Obama has stated that he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would undo all restrictions on abortion won over the past 30 years.

We also know that he would promote legislation that would make it legal to destroy a child who survived a botched abortion. He has stated also that, while on the one hand, he taught his daughters proper morals, on the other hand, he would not want them to be punished with a baby if they made a mistake.

This makes it all the more important that we double our pro-life efforts. Planned Parenthood targets African Americans with a higher number of abortion clinics in Black neighborhoods than in non-Black neighborhoods. Partially because of the efforts of Planned Parenthood, a higher percentage of African Americans have abortion than any other ethnic group.

Being strongly pro-life is being strongly pro-African American. We need to respect, love and pray for the person of Barack Obama, but we need to strongly oppose his support of abortion. While Governor of California, Ronald Reagan supported abortion. While President of the United States, he opposed abortion. We can and should pray for Barack Obama’s conversion to pro-life.

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.

November 7, 2008

Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’
Thank you, pro-life Catholics

by Bishop Robert Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

While many of the results in this week’s national election do not look very promising for the pro-life movement, one thing is clear. More and more Catholics have taken a new look at the teachings of Pope John Paul II’s "Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life)" and have come to embrace the cause of life more clearly. A number of people have let me know that when they went into the voting booth, they voted against their deep feelings and followed the teachings of "Evangelium Vitae."

This is perhaps the beginning of a big cultural shift for many Catholics. Through prayerful reflection, they are beginning to see that we all are victims of the secular society in which we live.

Thank you for coming to understand that the underlying presupposition of our present society is that "God does not exist." From this basic presupposition flow the current values of our society, including the culture of death values.

However, the Gospel of Life is beginning to penetrate the attitudes of many cultural Catholics who in the past justified their toleration of abortion by saying that they were voting their consciences. What more and more Catholics today are beginning to see is that we are called to seek the truth and follow the truth and re-form our consciences in the light of truth.

One thing Pope John Paul II said very clearly was that life is the greatest priority: "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination."

Thank you! A number of Catholics have told me that they are taking up the Rosary again. I commend them, because truth is sometimes hard to embrace and to defend, but meditation on the mysteries of Christ helps us to embrace truth, even when it is painful.

Thank you! The pro-life cause has been greatly blessed in this election, because a number of cultural Catholics are becoming doctrinal Catholics, since they have prayerfully made themselves vulnerable to the teachings of the Church.

We should not expect our Catholic politicians to be more pro-life than we are. Yet, as a Church, we must insist that Catholic politicians not embrace positions that are contrary to Catholic teachings. We Catholics need to stand up for Catholic teaching both in the ballot box and at the Communion rail. In other words, there needs to be consequences for our choices. Toleration of pro-abortion or pro-choice behavior is totally unacceptable for any Catholic.

Thank you! I thank Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Raymond Burke, Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Bishop Robert Finn, Bishop Arthur Seratelli and many others for taking such a courageous stand. Here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, I also thank our Respect Life Apostolate, and its director, Christina Heddell, for its fine work in getting information out to our parishes. Finally, I thank all those Catholics who have spoken up at the parish level and at the archdiocesan level. Your courage has inspired me and has made a difference. With prayer, study and witness we can change the culture of this country, one Catholic at a time.

We need to demand and insist upon correct teaching. Catholics hold the key for change, for turning our society into a culture of life.

Meanwhile, if you made the mistake of voting for the culture of death in this election, I would suggest you spend some serious time repenting of your contribution to the growing infanticide in this country. If you made the mistake of voting for the culture of death, then when you meet your Maker, you will need to take responsibility for prolonging the legalization of abortion in this country. The election is not over! It will only end when we face our Lord at the end of our life! It is not too late to vote for Christ and His teachings on life.

We have to answer for our decisions.

Finally, a new day is dawning for the Catholic Church. We are rediscovering the power of truth in the teachings of Scripture and the teachings of the Church. Truth is awakening our Catholic people. They are energized by it. Truth exposes the lie behind our secular culture that "God does not exist."

Christ told us that "the truth shall set you free." Our culture of death certainly needs to hear the call to freedom. In the teachings of the Catholic Church, we have some exciting news that our culture needs to hear and experience. Do not be afraid to live in the truth and be a witness to the joy it brings! Thank you!

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.

October 31, 2008
Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’
We live in hope

by Bishop Robert Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

We live in hope. This time immediately preceding a national election can be a time of turmoil, or it can also be a time of great transformation. If we live on the horizontal and cyclical plane only, we will find ourselves frustrated. However, we all enjoy watching a rocket ship take off from Cape Canaveral defying the laws of gravity as it soars into space from which astronauts see the earth from a different perspective.

Prayer, the study of Scripture and the study of Church teachings are like a rocket ship. They help us to rise above the fray of human turmoil and get a new perspective on our sometimes mundane activities.

We live in hope. In this past Sunday’s reading from Exodus, we are told: "Thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.’" In other words, God is saying, in effect, to the Israelites in the Promised Land that they should remember that for 400 years they were slaves in Egypt. God heard the cry of the poor and rescued them from the slavery of the Egyptians. Therefore, these Israelites should not forget that when they were aliens in Egypt, God heard their cry. They should treat the aliens in their midst as God treated them. He also warned them: "If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword…."

We live in hope. God could very well be saying to us today: "You shall not molest or destroy the child in the womb. Remember that when you were in the womb you were protected and given a chance to live!" We may say to ourselves: "I am against abortion, but I will still vote for a candidate who is pro-abortion, because I am voting for a better economy, and that will reduce abortions." If that is the case, then why were there not millions of abortions in the Great Depression of the 1930s? Instead, parents often had large families, because they lived in a faith society that supported life, and not death.

We live in hope, even though we live in a society that promotes the culture of death. The underlying but unspoken presupposition of our society today is that God does not exist. Therefore, man is in charge. If God does not exist, then there are no consequences for our actions. Our secular society’s values flow from the unspoken assumption that there is no God. Yet we may say to ourselves: "I believe in God, and yet I will vote for a candidate who promotes abortion." How can we say that we believe in God but act as if God did not exist? Jesus told us: "Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father." Again He tells us: "By their fruits you shall know them." If we promote abortion by our vote, we participate in society’s great lie.

We live in hope. How can I say that I believe in God and yet vote for candidates who promote the Freedom of Choice Act which would, in effect, nullify every limitation put on abortion during the past 30 years? How can I say I believe in God but vote for candidates who would support legislation that would permit the destruction of a child who survived a botched abortion? In other words, with my vote I can continue to drench this land with the blood of millions of our children, or with my vote I can take a stand to help end this senseless slaughter of the innocent children.

We live in hope. Is my relationship to an association or a group more important than my relationship to my God? Jesus said: "He who denies me before men I will deny before my heavenly Father." Do I obey the will of a group leader or do I obey the Word of God made flesh, His Church and His vicar on earth.? Pope John Paul II has addressed this issue very clearly. On Judgment Day will my group leader be there to defend my choice?

We live in hope. Perhaps we believe in God, but we live the cultural lie that God does not exist, and therefore society says we can do what we please. Perhaps we have really convinced ourselves that society is right after all, and the Church is just behind the times. Perhaps we have convinced ourselves that we will not be judged by our actions, but only by our noble hopes, intentions and aspirations. Perhaps we have convinced ourselves that our vote is not that important and that we can get what we want without supporting the destruction of the unborn. "Perhaps" is not a very strong word when we stand before the judgment seat of God.

We live in hope. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. Our neighbors are not only those children who are destroyed by abortion, but also those who are destroying the children themselves. That means we need to find a way to love those who promote abortion yet adamantly oppose their evil actions. This can be a very trying time, or it can be a very redemptive time. I believe God is calling us to do everything we can to oppose the actions of those promoting abortions and yet love them and pray for them. There is a very simple and effective way to do this.

We live in hope. Once there was a politician whose moral values I detested. Every time he would make an appearance on TV, which was usually twice a day, I would discover feelings of anger and resentment arising within me. One day I made a very smart decision. I decided to watch TV news with the remote control in my right hand and my Rosary in my left hand. It worked! When this candidate appeared on TV, I would hit the remote control button, shutting off the TV and pray five mysteries of the Rosary. Therefore, every day this politician received 15 minutes of my reflecting on the mysteries of Christ’s birth, life, passion, death and resurrection, while I myself experienced an incredible peace. By praying the Rosary for him, my attitudes and my affections towards his person changed, and I ended up on God’s side of him. It taught me a lifelong lesson. It is far more fun to pray for someone’s salvation than to be angry with them. I still oppose his values, but I do will his salvation.

We live in hope. Finally, I encourage everyone, once again, to pray the Rosary daily for the sake of our country. Pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Remember that when the fate of Christian Europe hung in the balance at the Battle of Lepanto, Christians were asked to pray the Rosary. Andrea Dorea was the captain of the lead vessel in that battle. He had in his ship a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Christian Europe was spared.

We live in hope. Remember that eight years ago the outcome of the national election was not made known until Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! We live in hope!

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.

October 24, 2008
Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’
Week of prayer for the protection of human life

by Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

We are living in destiny-changing times! Our own personal destiny and the destiny of our nation are at stake! We are living in a time of widespread abortion and infanticide. This coming election may very well be the most important election for the cause of life or death.

If you are over 35 years of age, consider yourself lucky to be alive because up until you were born it was illegal in this country to kill children. If you are under 35, consider yourself lucky that you are one of the gifted survivors. More than 47 million of your generation were not so lucky and were killed.

In a letter to his people, Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph wrote: "Our Catholic moral principles teach that a candidate’s promise of economic prosperity is insufficient to justify their constant support of abortion laws, including partial-birth abortion and infanticide for born-alive infants. Promotion of the Freedom of Choice Act is a pledge to eliminate every single limit on abortions achieved over the last 35 years. The real freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ compels us, not to take life, but to defend it."

Together with the other bishops of Missouri, I am asking all the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis to make next week a special week of prayer for the protection of human life. I am asking ever parish to offer one holy hour of adoration on one day this following week for the cause of life and human dignity, and I am encouraging all parishioners to attend, if at all possible. If you can’t attend, make a good Confession or ask others to join you in praying the Rosary.

I am also encouraging every family to say the daily Rosary for this same intention. When Christian Europe was threatened by overwhelming odds in 1571, prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary brought about a tremendous victory.

If they could do it then, we can do this today. With God’s help we can make these kinds of choices. This is our calling. We are to be a people of hope. Let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to intercede for us.

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.

October 10, 2008
Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’
Save our children!

Save our children! More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.

Save our children! Many people in Germany supported Hitler for economic reasons even though, as his programs advanced, he put to death millions of Jewish people. He ended up wrecking the economy together with the country of Germany.

How are we different if we vote for proabortion candidates for office? How can we help change our political and legal situation to protect innocent children and support a culture of life?

Save our children! When I speak to some socalled good Catholics, I am shocked that they are quite ready to vote for a pro-abortion candidate under almost any circumstance. I find this hard to understand. We have heard the word "abortion" so often that perhaps we no longer associate procured abortion with the killing of children, yet that is what it is. The term itself can be misleading. The dictionary tells us that it comes from a Latin word that means "to disappear or to miscarry." Sometimes abortions simply happen because of natural causes. That is why this word abortion, for many people, apparently does not really connote the destruction of children. When a human agent induces an abortion, that human agent is taking the life of one of our children.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

In Chapter 10 of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he states: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ... You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."

Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: "Thou shalt not kill"? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

Save our children! I have no doubt that there may be some so-called good Catholics who are reading this column and who may be really angry about now. I ask the question "Why would such a person be angry?" If we do good deeds, then our conscience is at peace. If we do evil deeds, then our conscience bothers us. It is my hope that this column will lead some of our so-called good Catholics to study the Catholic Catechism.

Save our children! Some of our so-called good Catholics may have hardened their hearts against the real understanding of induced abortions, that they can no longer see that this involves the destruction of our children. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!"

Save our children! Supporting induced abortions is not the greatest sin in the world. A greater sin is the refusal to repent of such a serious crime or the denial that this involves the killing of innocent children.

Save our children! I have used this terminology again and again penetrate the defenses of anyone who in the past may have put personal, economic or political interests above the issue of saving our children. The right to life is our most fundamental right, and to defend this right on behalf of the most vulnerable is a great privilege and is worth giving one’s life for. Policemen and firemen always risk their lives to save human life. Why should we not risk our own reputation to save our children?

Save our children!You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don’t debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

Save our children and save our so-called good Catholics who have abandoned Church teachings in favor of personal gain. Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day. Get the whole family to pray the Rosary daily. Prayer is more powerful than contentious arguments. Spread the word to other families. In praying the Rosary, children’s votes count as much as adult votes. Sometimes they pray with purer hearts than we do. If you are disgusted with the TV news, then turn it off and turn on the prayer Internet. What we hear in prayer leaves us in peace. When we pray for our country and for our fellow citizens, we are filled with peace. St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the spirits of darkness.

Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say ‘no’ to the culture of death and say ‘yes’ to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.

October 3, 2008
Bishop Hermann: ‘I thought you should know’
Pro-Life Sunday

This is the text of the homily Bishop Hermann gave at Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Pro-Life Sunday, Sept. 28.

Today’s readings are not only about the call to be obedient to God’s will, but also about God sharing with us the power to be obedient to His will, and thereby receiving His transforming mercy.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us about the man with two sons. The Father gives the first son a command, and the son refused but later relents, repents and does the father’s will. The father gives the second son a command, and the son says he will do it, but he never carried out his father’s will. Then Jesus says to the crowd, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. .…"

In other words, these prostitutes and tax collectors at first chose to rebel against God, but then they repented and are entering the kingdom.

In the second reading from Philippians, St. Paul tells us, "Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

St. Paul is inviting us to enter into Christ’s obedience to the Father. Here we have Christ becoming obedient to the Father to the point of dying on the cross because of his affection for us sinners. Paul is inviting us to imitate the obedience of Jesus, in order that we might be transformed by our surrender. When we choose to be obedient to the teachings of the Church and to Christ, something good really happens inside of us. We are set free. We are joyous. We are filled with energy.

Let us apply this obedience to some of the more difficult issues today, such as the Church’s teaching about artificial contraception. There are a growing number of young couples today who are embracing natural family planning. They are embracing the Church’s teaching about human sexuality, and they are energized by it. Sure, it requires sacrifice, but they realize that this is God’s plan for human beings, because in embracing human sexuality, they’re embracing God’s meaning in human sexuality. They know that they are co-creators with God, and they know that if God gives a new life to them, they have the potential of sharing with their offspring God’s joy for all eternity. However, this could not happen if they did not give God permission. God needs their permission for that to happen.

When they’re generous to saying yes to life, it means sacrifice, but from a perspective of eternity, that sacrifice is so small. It’s one of the greatest investments they could ever possibly make — the investment in children, because it pays such incredible blessings — sharing eternity with individuals who otherwise would not even come into existence.

That’s the meaning. That’s the purpose of obedience to the Church’s teaching. Some people do not like to hear about the papal encyclical, "Humanae Vitae," but it’s all about human life. It’s all about supernatural life, and it’s all about God’s fruitfulness in time and in eternity. That’s the wonderful good news that has been misunderstood for so many years.

Let’s move on and apply it to other areas. I’m deliberately choosing difficult issues in our lives that really challenge us to do what Jesus did, and that is, to embrace the Cross, because unless we embrace the Cross, nothing else matters. We’re not going anywhere.

As citizens, we have a responsibility to participate in fostering the common good of the whole community. One of these responsibilities is participating in the election of our civic leaders. We have the responsibility of selecting those leaders who will uphold the moral law. It is important for Catholics to evaluate how policies and laws impact the life and dignity of the human person. There are some issues which always involve doing evil by their very nature, such as: legalized abortion, destructive human embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia and so-called same-sex unions.

All other issues, which are not intrinsically evil, take second place to these. If both candidates support some of these issues, which are intrinsically evil, we have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less permissive candidate.

The question I want to ask is this: How could anybody ever support a candidate who would promote laws permitting the destruction of a living child that had survived an attempted abortion? That is beyond my comprehension. I repeat. How anybody could ever support a candidate who would promote laws permitting the destruction of a living child that had survived an attempted abortion is beyond my comprehension.

Today we are concerned about the economic collapse of our country. We should be far more concerned about the spiritual collapse of our country. The spiritual collapse of our country is far more serious than the economic collapse, and I say to you that if we have a choice between poverty and abortion, it’s got to be poverty, because that’s not what Hitler did. Hitler chose economic growth, and he did this by destroying human lives. He did it by destroying millions of Jews, the elderly and those who were mentally impaired.

That was Nazism. How are we different if we continue to go down the road of the culture of death that we’re going down today?

For anyone who finds this hard and doesn’t like to hear this, to them I say, "Study the second chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and find out how Jesus humbled himself, embracing suffering in order that we might have life — embracing suffering in order that we might have mercy for our sinfulness.

God is calling us all to have life and have it more abundantly, and He is calling us all to the tribunal of mercy. So your task and my task is not to be victorious in society. Your task and my task is to witness to the truth no matter how much of a cross comes our way. Silence gives consent. Silence is destructive to our country. You and I are called to stand up against the culture of death and for the culture of life.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus could very well say to us, "You may think that it wasn’t easy for me to associate with these tax collectors and prostitutes, but I had an affection for them, and I wanted them saved so that no matter how much the cost, I wanted them in the Father’s kingdom."

You and I should say to all of our politicians who are choosing values contrary to those of the Catholic Church, "We want you in the kingdom. We want you back, and we want you back to embracing obedience to the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church, and we want you to come back to repentance."

It’s a national scandal for many of our Catholics in Washington to embrace the culture of death over and over and call themselves Catholic and attend Mass and receive the Eucharist. That is a scandal. Archbishop Burke made this very obvious four years ago.

I’m not condemning them. I’m condemning their actions. We want to call them back into the truth. We want to pray for them. We want them redeemed. We want to see them share eternity with us, because like the one son, right now they’re saying "no," but the day may come when, through our prayers, they may say "yes" and share the kingdom with us.

It’s all about life. It’s not about putting people down. It’s about calling them to the task of obedience to the Gospel. That’s what it’s all about. So as we take a look at this reading from Philippians, we see that Christ emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and taking on human likeness, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death.

Let us say to our Lord, "No matter how much suffering comes my way, I want to embrace the Cross. No matter how much suffering comes my way in witnessing to the truth, I want to embrace the truth, and I want to live the truth. Let it crucify my ego. Let it crucify my pride. I want to embrace the truth in order that I and others might have life, and have it more abundantly."

So what is behind today’s readings? Floodgates of mercy that are waiting to open up and pour down God’s mercy upon us as soon as we repent! That’s what is behind these readings — God’s incredible love that He can hardly hold back! His mercy wants to break through those floodgates and cleanse us and turn us around, if only we humble ourselves and call that mercy down.

Let us in this Mass call that mercy down upon us as a nation, that as a nation we may repent of choosing the culture of death, and choose the culture of life. As a nation, if at one time, we said "no," we want now to change our mind, like the son in the Gospel and say, "Yes. Yes, Lord, I embrace you. I embrace your love, and I embrace your mercy." Amen.

First published in the Saint Louis Review, reprinted with Bishop Hermann's permission.