Feast of Blessed Laura Vicuna

Good morning.  Upon first glance at this morning’s Gospel the very brief verse from the Gospel of Mark (Mk 3:20-21) seems rather shocking and I felt pity for Our Lord and anger toward those of His family who would say such horrendous things.  “Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”  But then, it occurred to me, of course they would think Him to be out of His mind; He dared to be different.  His family’s reaction is none too different then of those around us should we dare to be different.  Of course Jesus’ family would be alarmed, He looked like everyone else and He spoke like everybody else, but at the same time His message was obviously different from that of everyone else.  We should not be alarmed when, as Christians, we are met with the same questioning response. 

We can likely all point to situations where in choosing to walk out of cadence with the rest of the world, to courageously free ourselves from the secular world around us, others have challenged us or perhaps even ridiculed us.  As parents we sometimes are faced with the challenge of helping our children face the pressure of a world with varied options that encourage choices that run counter with their Faith. Sometimes even the most seemingly innocent, and even seemingly wholesome options, may encourage our children to think and act in ways that head in a different direction from their Faith; and the pressure to conform doesn’t always come just from their peers.  One situation that readily comes to mind is a choice that our two boys have been faced with every spring.  Every spring they dare to be different.  Our oldest son faced it, and our youngest has and will likely face it again this spring, because every spring, and the why of it defies reason, there is a track meet scheduled on Holy Thursday.  Every spring our sons have been faced with choosing church over running track, fortunately their coach gets it.  And fortunately our sons get it, they have always made that choice freely and willingly of their own accord.  I just wish the rest of the world got it, but perhaps as a result of our sons’ choices, someone else’s son gets it.  Choose to be different today; take a stand against abortion and be a Voice for Life.  Make a great day!

Today we recall the good life and works of Blessed Laura Vicuna and let us pray to end abortion.