My dear brothers and sisters,
Last weekend, our parish entered October with the Rosary in our hands. This weekend, I want us to enter October with something even deeper — a renewed reverence for life. Because October is not only the Month of the Rosary. It is also Respect Life Month, and these two devotions are not separate lanes of faith. They are one road leading us straight to the heart of Christ.
Respect Life is not a slogan. It is a way of seeing. It is a way of loving. It is a way of standing beside the vulnerable, the forgotten, the unseen.
Every human life — from the first spark of conception to the final breath of natural death — is a gift from God. Not a problem to solve. Not a burden to carry. Not a statistic to debate. A gift. A sacred mystery entrusted to us.
And Mary teaches us how to honor that gift.
She carried Life in her womb. She protected Life when danger threatened. She stood by Life as He hung on the Cross. She received Life again in the Resurrection.
When we pray the Rosary, we learn to see life the way Mary sees it — with tenderness, courage, and fierce fidelity. Every Hail Mary becomes a quiet promise: Lord, I will stand with Your children. I will defend Your image wherever it appears. I will love the life You place before me.
When we pray the Rosary, we learn how to respect life. To respect life is to live the Rosary.
My friends, this month I ask you to let your prayer become action. Let your beads become compassion. Let your devotion become protection for the unborn, the elderly, the sick, the poor, the lonely, the immigrant, the wounded, the unseen. Let us be a parish that sees every person as Mary saw her Son — precious, beloved, worth standing beside.
May Our Lady of the Rosary teach us to cherish every life with her heart.
Fr. Joseph