Love Your Unborn Neighbor as Yourself (Rom 13:9) by Deacon Sam Lee

06 Nov Love Your Unborn Neighbor as Yourself (Rom 13:9) by Deacon Sam Lee

Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB).  Leaders.  Guest Authors.
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“The commandments … you shall not kill … and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Rom 13:9 (full readings)
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Deacon Sam’s Reflections:  St. Paul helps us summarize and synthesize all of the commandments – including the Fifth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”  The reason we don’t kill unborn children is because we ourselves shouldn’t be killed.  The reason we help pregnant women in need is because we should be helped when we are most vulnerable.  The reason why we have respect for the elderly, the infirm, the disabled and the forgotten is that we should be respected when we are old, sick, incapable or ignored.  In July, Pope Francis stated it this way in his message to Catholics in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales on the occasion of the Day for Life: “Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live for ever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”  St. Paul injects a note of irony when he says: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.”  Well, that means we owe everybody something – which is to love them!  Everyone is deserving of our love, and we are to give that love in such manner that we are capable of giving.  St. Paul’s admonitions simplify how we are to respect the lives of others: we are to respect others’ lives as our own lives are to be respected.  At a bare minimum, St. Paul reminds us, we are to do no evil to our neighbor.  But since Jesus explained in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37) that everyone – even our enemy – is our neighbor, that means we are to do no evil to anyone we encounter.  But love is more than avoiding doing evil to someone.  Following Christ means we are to do good for others – and ultimately, if necessary, doing good for others with a sacrificial love, like Jesus did for us on the Cross, so that we can have eternal life.
* Deacon Sam Lee is a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He has been active in pro-life work since 1978 and a pro-life lobbyist at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City since the mid-1980’s.  His wife Gloria works at Our Lady’s Inn, an emergency shelter for homeless, pregnant women and their children.
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Faith Challenge:  Challenge yourself today to look at others and imagine you are looking in a mirror.  Find a way to exercise sacrificial love toward a neighbor today.
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Counter-Culture News:  LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel.
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Our Prayers:  Pray LIFE Runners Creed to end abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day:  St. Nicholas Tavelic and Companions.
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Faith Quote:  “There is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself.  In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it he must perish.” ~ Alfred Adler
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Through Christ Our Lord,
Deacon Sam