"If We Change People’s Hearts"

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, has been criticized in some quarters for his presence Saturday at the funeral Mass of Senator Edward Kennedy -- due to the senator’s support for abortion rights.

Some of these critics have stated that Senator Kennedy’s pro-abortion stand should have even ruled out his having a Catholic funeral Mass.

Yesterday, Cardinal Seán responded to these criticisms on his blog.

Some quotes:

" ... We are people of faith and we believe in a loving and forgiving God from whom we seek mercy.

...

... the pro-life movement is best characterized by what it is for, not against. We are for the precious gift of life, and our task is to build a civilization of love. We must show those who do not share our belief about life that we care about them. We will stop the practice of abortion by changing the law, and we will be successful in changing the law if we change people’s hearts. We will not change hearts by turning away from people in their time of need and when they are experiencing grief and loss.

At times, even in the Church, zeal can lead people to issue harsh judgments and impute the worst motives to one another. These attitudes and practices do irreparable damage to the communion of the Church. If any cause is motivated by judgment, anger or vindictiveness, it will be doomed to marginalization and failure. Jesus’ words to us were that we must love one another as He loves us. Jesus loves us while we are still in sin. He loves each of us first, and He loves us to the end. Our ability to change people’s hearts and help them to grasp the dignity of each and every life, from the first moment of conception to the last moment of natural death, is directly related to our ability to increase love and unity in the Church, for our proclamation of the Truth is hindered when we are divided and fighting with each other."

...

Amen.

From the Gospel of Mark 2:16:

Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Jesus heard this and said to them (that), "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

The photo above is from Cardinal Seán's Blog.