Lex Cordis Caritas - The law of the heart is Love

Here in Springfield, the voice of believers in the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception must speak out against the expansion of abortion services at the new Planned Parenthood facility on Bruns Lane, which will now offer surgical abortions in addition to chemical abortions. In contrast, pregnancy resource centers in Springfield such as the Pregnancy Care Center, the Elizabeth Ann Seton program, Lifetime, and Beerlahai Roi Women’s Ministries have many resources to assist low-income women throughout her pregnancy, birth, and role as a parent. Not only pro-life advocates, but all people who are truly pro-choice should support the services of these pregnancy resource centers to give women a real choice to have their babies and give them the gift of life, rather than the dead-end no-choice of abortion. The only real caring choice it to choose life.

It is important for couples entering into marriage to have a clear understanding of what the church teaches about the meaning of marriage so that they may enter into a valid marriage and receive the sacramental graces that flow to the baptized as husband and wife.

Words are hard to come by in the aftermath of the despicable shooting that took place on June 12 in Orlando, Fla., killing 49 people and wounding 53 others. At least, words are hard for me to come by. Some have been quick to use the massacre as a platform for their political agendas or their social ideologies. I am<br /> not a politician, so I will leave it to political authorities to devise policies that will bring these increasingly all-too-frequent horrific attacks to an end. I am a spiritual leader, so my words will focus on the spiritual realm.

As we celebrate the solemnity of the Body and the Blood of Christ, many of our parishes will have Corpus Christi processions carrying the Blessed Sacrament through our public streets. May our participation in these Corpus Christi processions serve as a witness to our faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist and as an expression of our belief that God is in our midst even in our everyday lives.

There have been various reactions to the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness Pope Francis on Love in the Family, Amoris Laetitia, since it was released on April 8. Some praise it, some do not. Some find it helpful, others less so. Most everyone finds it to be very long, which means they will probably not read it, at least not in its entirety. I very quickly read the advance copy I received the night before it was released so I could talk about it intelligently in the television interviews I would have the next day. I offer these observations in keeping with my duty as diocesan bishop “to present and explain to the faithful the truths of the faith which are to be believed and applied to moral issues” (canon 386). I hope they are helpful.