LINCOLN (SNR) – Bishop James Conley celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln Dec. 12 and bestowed the blessing of baby Jesus figures after Mass.
“Gaudete in Domino semper,” the bishop said in his homily for Gaudete Sunday, the third week of Advent, “Rejoice in the Lord always!”
The bishop said the third Sunday of Advent is called “joyful Sunday,” because the Lord is near. “He is about to be born in our hearts and our homes in our communities and in our world,” the bishop said.
He called to mind the second reading of the day from Saint Paul to the Philippians: “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety. Make your requests to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.”
He went on to talk about the beauty and joy in newborn life.
“There is nothing more joyful than a little baby,” he said. “That’s why it is so wonderful and so fitting that our savior came to us as a baby in the womb of his mother.”
He said the innocence, spontaneity, purity, and “sheer beauty of a child brings joy out of everyone.” He recalled how his own mother, toward the end of her life, enjoyed the babies in their family.
“She would light up and become mesmerized,” he said, “fascinated with the soft skin, the eyes, the gestures, and the laughter of my little nephews, her grandsons.”
He explained the blessing of the baby Jesus statues, an ancient Roman custom held annually in St. Peter’s Square. Each year, usually on the third Sunday of Advent, the pope celebrates “Bambino Gesu” Sunday and invites families to bring the Baby Jesus figures from their nativity sets, and celebrate children, Christmas, and the Christ Child. The bishop pointed out the shared faith of Catholics around the world undertaking such celebrations in anticipation of the coming of the Lord at Christmas.
See also: Bless the Baby Jesus 2021 slideshow
His comments came just over a week after the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
The arguments in favor of the Mississippi law, heard before the Supreme Court Dec. 1, directly challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Legal experts say the Dobbs v. Jackson case presents an opportunity for the Supreme Court to reconsider previous rulings that upheld legal abortion across the country. Decisions in high-profile cases such as Dobbs tend to come at the end of the Supreme Court’s current term, which could be in late June or early July of 2022.
“The insanity of abortion is driven home more forcefully and more clearly to me each year… when we contemplate the pregnancy of Mary,” Bishop Conley said. “At what point, for example, did Jesus become viable in the womb of Mary – 15 weeks? 24 weeks?
“It always comes down to the humanity of the child,” the bishop said. “Is the fetus in the womb a person or not?”
He said the pro-life attorneys, with the latest neonatal science and ultrasound technology backing them up, successfully made their argument for the humanity of the child, in his opinion.
The pro-abortion side, he said, focused more on “stare decisis,” or precedent, almost 50 years of legal abortion, the right to choose and the social upheaval a reversal of Roe might have on society.
“To me, these are weak arguments,” Bishop Conley said. “Is it a child or not? And if it is, shouldn’t we protect life and not destroy it? There are always two victims in an abortion, the baby and the mother. We need to reach out and save them both."
The bishop went on to ask what a “post-Roe” world might look like. Even if the decision in the Dobbs case led to the reversal of Roe, abortion would not simply disappear in the United States. Instead, the question would be left to each state, meaning abortion would likely still exist in some places.
Even if Roe is overturned, “unplanned pregnancies will still happen,” Bishop Conley said, and “every parish needs to be a safe haven” for those babies and their mothers.
“Those who champion life in the womb would need to step up even more,” Bishop Conley said.
He mentioned the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops program “Walking with Moms in Need,” which encourages accompanying women in need with a “safety net” of resources to show love for women and children. He gave examples in the Lincoln Diocese, such as the Women’s Care Center and Birthright in Lincoln, who he said are already “doing it well,” saving lives and providing resources for women in need so they can better care for their children.
The “Walking with Moms in Need” program “helps parishes to identify and help provide the full range of needs for mothers and their unborn children, not only during pregnancy, but for years to come,” according to a statement by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
“Mary and Joseph, you might say, had an unplanned pregnancy,” Bishop Conley said, “humanly speaking, not from God’s point of view. They were in crisis. Not many people reached out to help them.”
Christians, he said, need to be there “to help and care and walk with women in need.”
The bishop concluded by pointing out the day was also the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the unborn because she appeared to St. Juan Diego as a pregnant mother. He prayed for her intercession that the joy of Gaudete Sunday welcome every unborn child.
