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Dear Friends in Christ,

There is no doubt that our Lord was a very brave young man. The story we have heard about His curing the man with a withered hand proves that point. Many of Jesus' enemies were present on that day in the synagogue. The Pharisees, who were always trying to trick Him into saying something wrong -something that would undermine the relationship He enjoyed with most of the people - they were there in numbers, and as the Gospel says, they were "keeping their eye on JesusÉ" Also present were many leaders from the Herodian party - there were leaders who along with King Herod, believed that Israel could only exist happily if she did exactly what the Roman government wanted. They were also against our Lord, because they thought He wanted the people to rebel against Roman authority. All these enemies of our Lord - the Pharisees and the Herodians, were there, and just hoping for the right thing to happen - something that would make our Lord look bad, something they could exploit for their own ends, and use to get rid of the upstart from Galilee.

Our Lord could have played it safe - he could have taken the man with the withered hand aside, into some safe and secluded place, and cured him in secret. I don't think it would have made any difference to the sick man. But our Lord knew what was up, and He could not let these evil men get their way - not because He was some kind of ace in one-upmanship - but because he was God, and could only do what was right, what was honest, what was true.

And so, as the Gospel says, He pointed out the man with the withered hand, and He said to him, in a loud voice, "Stand up here in front!" In other words, He said to the evil-doers in effect, "I am going to do some good here today, and I am going to do it in your face!"

The whole point was to catch Him curing someone on the Sabbath, on the day of rest - because that kind of activity was considered by many as work, and all work was forbidden on the Sabbath. But Jesus said, in an argument that cannot be refuted, "Should I do good on this Sabbath day? - or should I do evil? Should I cure this man, and send him away happy, or should I ignore His trouble, and let him go on his way, miserable and as sick as he ever was?" Well, the bad guys had no answer for this, and so Jesus let them know how serious He was. In one of the very few places in the Gospel, we are told that He looked at them with deep anger, and with grief, because they had closed their mind to Him. They had decided that what they though was right was more important than what God was telling them was right. They had decided that to keep a bad law, was better than to do good, and let the bad law be overturned.

He wasted no time - He simply told the man to stretch out his arm, and when he did, everyone saw that the withered hand was made whole, and the sick man was cured. But it still made no difference to the Pharisees and to the Herodians - as soon as they went outside, they out their heads together and started to plot about how they would destroy Jesus, how they would ruin His work, and how they would bring about His death.

This story is more than an incident in the life of our Lord, for our Lord did everything with a bigger picture in mind. He saw, not just the time He lived in - He saw for all times, including ours. He understood, when He gave example that day about being brave and doing right, and about facing down a bad law with good acts - He understood perfectly well that He was teaching us a lesson just as if He were here with us now.

And that lesson is that you - the young Catholic men and women of our local Church must also be brave. You must also be ready to stand up before everyone - your friends and your enemies - and say, and do what is right. And yes - you must do and say what is right, even though the law of our land says otherwise. I will teach you a lesson about law you can remember all your life. All laws must come from the law of God, and all laws must work for the common good. If a law is made that is against the law of God, then it is a bad law. And bad law can always be recognized because of one thing: bad law always causes violence. In 1973, the law of this country as changed so that abortions, the killing of a child in its mother's womb, would be protected and guaranteed to anyone who chose this terrible act. Since that time, over 40 million - over 40 million babies have been killed in this country, before they ever had a chance to see the light of day. This is violence - anyone who says otherwise is blind to the truth. And the law that protects such violence is a bad law, and one that we must never accept - one that we must work against until it is overthrown, and no longer can cause such violence in our nation and among our people.

Standing up against this law is not easy, and no matter what we do, we cannot do anything violent to overturn it, for then we would be just as guilty as those who believe in his bad law. But we can do what our Lord did - we can stand before anyone and say what we think about doing good, and we can try our best to help anyone who is tempted to have an abortion to choose some other alternative. And like our Lord, we can show our anger and our deep distress about the unnecessary killing of children. And like our Lord, we must do this, even though there are evil people out there, who would rather see us dead, than that this terrible law be overthrown.

But the times are better than they have been - in the last elections, many more pro-life candidates were elected than ever before; and in Georgia the number of abortions has steadily decreased since 1980. In 1992 there were 55 abortion clinics and hospitals operating in Georgia - now, there are just 22. Your mothers and fathers and your grandparents are the reason this has happened - since that terrible day in 1973, the day of Roe vs. Wade, many older people have worked without stopping to turn this country around, and to change the law about abortion. It has been slow but steady - and every time there has been a victory, there was still the knowledge that so much more had to be done. Now, we who are older than you - we are getting tired - that doesn't mean that we will stop working, but it does mean that we have to look to you now, as the future - as the ones who will take over the work we have been doing.

But we are happy to do this, for two reasons. First, because we have seen how good, how faithful, how true to the teachings of Jesus Christ our young catholic men and women are. And second, we truly believe, that in your lifetimes, this terrible evil in our country, abortion, the murder of helpless children, will finally be brought to a stop.

Dear young men and women, I want to encourage you in every way possible, to dedicate yourself this night, more than ever before, to the fight for life in our country. Nothing is more important, and nothing would be more wonderful, than if you could pass on to your own children, the legacy of a country that had done great evil, but had seen the error of its ways, and turned back - tuned back to the law of God, the law of life, and the law of love. I hope and pray, that this vision will come true in your time - but it will only come true, if you are like the Lord -0 if you are courageous and bold, and willing to stand up before your enemies, and say to their faces: "Enough - stop the killing now!"

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