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The Power of One
A wise observer of humanity once remarked that there may be no more diabolical a temptation than discouragement. Mother Teresa was once asked how she could ever hope to bring care, comfort and healing to so many people in the teeming slums of Calcutta. Her response was as simple as it was eloquent, “One person at a time.” It is also a profoundly Christian one.
Much of our attention has been focused in recent months on the firestorm we are to hope for or fear from the next wave of political power brokers. It is important to remember that the blaze with which Jesus wished to ignite the world starts in the human heart – the only place where real and lasting transformation begins and is sustained. Christians call it conversion: a daily process of turning away from evil and toward God.
The non-negotiable principles of our moral teaching – the value of each and every human life from the moment of conception to natural death – remain as vital and fundamental today as the day before any election. The way in which they must be promoted and lived, however, has never been more urgent or clear. Although great good and great harm can be done by persons in the public eye who wield political and economic power, the battles for the protection of life are, ultimately, local and begin right at home. In the face of any Goliath, the best weapon remains the “power of one.”
Especially where the law fails to protect the most innocent of human lives, born or unborn, both the power and the responsibility fall upon each and every one of us, as individuals, to foster life among those with whom we come in contact every day. While Catholic clergy and religious bear great responsibility for leadership through word and example, it is imperative that the Gospel of Life be lived and taught by every member of our Catholic family.
It is hard to imagine anyone, whether parent or grandparent, Catholic school or religious education teacher, high school or college student, youth or senior, professional or trade worker, who does not on a daily basis come into personal contact – sometimes conflict! – with a friend, a neighbor or a family member facing decisions in which a human life is held in the balance. The courage and fortitude to reject and fight against the evils of substance abuse, sexual relations outside of marriage, pornography, intemperate behavior and even immodest dress are personal choices that will profoundly affect the vicious cycle of domestic violence, child abuse, the degradation of women and the cruelest brutality of abortion itself. For those who may have missed the connection, there is a diabolic link among all places of execution, from the womb to the killing fields. For Christians, no human life is dispensable and, therefore, resisting sin and the occasions of sin that render any human life vulnerable is the daily “holy war” within every human soul.
With prospects of a more radically pro-abortion agenda in our immediate political future, it is hard to imagine how a nation whose conscience is not shocked by the most vicious form of domestic violence – the murder of unborn holy innocents – is likely to resist more public temptations to pick up the sword instead of the ploughshare. It may seem an overwhelming burden to be challenged personally to take on so virulent a culture of death – where in an instant a multitude can be wiped out with a weapon of mass destruction. We need only to remember the exemplary lesson Mother Teresa sent from the Master: that life and love, in the beginning and in the end, can only be transmitted person to person, one person at a time.
Lesson Plan for Growth
We single out St. Edmund Prep H.S. and parish in Sheepshead Bay, for accomplishing something amazing. At a time when it is more common to read about dwindling enrollment and school closings, St. Edmund’s last week celebrated the dedication of a newly built wing of the high school to house its science and media center.
St. Edmund’s was able to achieve this through the dynamic leadership of its principal, John Lorenzetti, and the pastor, Father Edward Brophy. Bishop DiMarzio agreed to the plan years ago after some refinements to it and put up some diocesan money as a loan to help bring about the project.
This is collaboration at its best. The diocesan and local levels worked together to accomplish something beautiful for the future of young people.
St. Edmund Prep is something of an anomaly. Its coed enrollment has increased to more than 700 students. And Principal Lorenzetti announced at the dedication that it is working on a 10-year plan to keep education there as modern and up-to-date as possible.
St. Edmund Prep H.S. serves as a beacon of light and a shining example of what Catholic education can be. Congratulations are in order to all at the school and the parish for a job well done!
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