Smithsonian Institute
Coming so soon after the March for Life, this phrase usually reminds us of the horrors of our abortion culture. This is true; yet choosing life means so much more than that. Today’s first reading, Dt. 30:15-20, “Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.” is our admonition to choose life at all times, in all situations.
I remember so clearly when Matt and I needed to choose the Church’s road rather than our own. This was especially true in regard to Her teachings regarding contraception. We would begin to choose life and our 11 children are the most obvious testimony to that decision.
But over the years, God would ask us to stay on His path and choose life again (and again and again) beyond the # of children we would have. From the struggles of my MS diagnosis to Matthew’s sometime employment struggles to the daily struggles every married couple faces along with the inherent issues of raising any size of family in today’s culture, we have to choose God’s plan over our own.
We have to choose love over anger, service over selfishness and following the Church over the world, . We have to fight at times to ensure we do not let ” (y)our heart turns away and you do not obey, but are led astray and bow down to other gods and serve them…” (vs. 17).
Each time my MS required medication changes or worsening symptoms, each time Matt found himself in a less-than-perfect job situation, we had to seek God’s plan over our own. Each time we thought that a life of following God is just too hard, we had to instead “hold fast to God” (vs. 20). We needed to believe that regardless of what it looked like, He loved us, would give us the grace to endure and wanted only our very salvation.
With our youngest now 12, Matthew and I still choose life every day when we work towards the good of each other, remained committed to our marriage, our family and the Church. Of course, choosing the life of a child is at the center of the continued battle with the culture of death we live in, but on a daily basis we must also act in a way that reflects our “loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees…” (vs.16)
