May 9, 2004

The last words spoken by our Lord from the cross to the human race were about his mother. Through St. John he entrusted the spiritual welfare of all of us to her protection. The custom of crowning an image of the Blessed Mother in the month of May, which our children did so elegantly last Sunday, honors the promise and obligation imposed on us from the cross. Mary has won the “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8), the “crown of life” (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10) and the “crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4) which Christ offers to all his followers.

Pope John Paul II has consecrated his pontificate to Mary (Totus Tuus — All Yours). He has asked Catholics throughout the world to join him in the Marian month of May for a special prayer intention: “That the family, founded on the marriage of a man and a woman, may be recognized as the basic cell of human society.” The need to pray for such an obvious truth indicates how deeply our culture has sunk into the swamps of degeneracy. An entire generation is being reared in a way oblivious to natural law. Some politicians actually promote the destruction of the family and the legalization of counterfeit forms of marriage. Either by ignorance or demagoguery, some will try to lump the issues of abortion and marriage with issues of social polity. They will say we shouldn’t be “selective” in giving pre-eminence to the right to life and authentic marriage over other matters such as ecology, the death penalty, welfare reform, health care and so on. Usually they prefer to remain anonymous and shrink from debate. Such illogic would never have persuaded a more civilized age. It is a transparent way that the Prince of Lies would confuse people. Policies on air pollution, tax structures, seal hunting and psoriasis do not have the moral weight of natural law as it pertains to the right to life of the unborn and the integrity of the family. Abortion is intrinsically evil, malum in se and it is not a prudential equation like capital punishment or other issues. Excommunication from God’s sacraments is automatic (latae sententiae) when one participates in an intrinsic evil.

In the recent march on Washington by pro-abortionists, acts of sacrilege were committed, images of Christ were mocked, and priests and devout Catholics on the sidelines were subjected to obscenities, which the popular media did not report. It was a veritable Walpurgisnacht, and this is to be expected since we are engaged in a deep spiritual warfare. In such ugly moments, horrendously encouraged by many public figures who solicit the votes of Catholics, we are invigorated by the beautiful contrast of our Risen Lord and our Lady to whom he says “Arise my Love, my fair one and come away, for the winter is over and done…”

Fr. George W. Rutler