October 4, 2009 – Respect Life Sunday

Deacon Tim’s Column
October 4, 2009 – Respect Life Sunday

Today we observe “Respect Life Sunday.” Often we equate respecting life with only the issues of abortion and the other issues relating to conception and the unborn. To be truly “pro-life” we must respect life in all of its stages. In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed in the U.S. In 2007, the infant mortality rate in the U.S. was one of the worst in the world with 6.78 infant deaths (under 1 year of age) per 1,000 live births (over 28,000 infant deaths). Approximately 45,000 people die each year because they have no health insurance. In the United States, 3.5 million people are expected to experience homelessness in a given year. Out of this number, 1.35 million of these are children. Approximately 15 million children (one out of every four) live below the poverty level. 22% of Americans under the age of 18 and 25% under the age of 12 are hungry or at the risk of being hungry. Everyday, 2,660 children are born into poverty; 27 die because of it (almost 10,000 per year).
All of us are worthy of respect. In Genesis 1:27 we read “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him, male and female he created him.” All of us have human dignity because of this and each life is precious and worthwhile. We can’t be selective when we call ourselves “pro-life.” We have to respect all life at all stages. We have unfortunately accepted a culture of death in this country. Whether it concerns abortion, lack of health insurance, poverty, a disregard for life (even at the end stages) we have become hardened to the dignity of life. Each of us are going to have to answer to God for what we have done to foster an atmosphere of life not death. When we are judged, God will tell us “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers (and sisters) of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40b).
May Christ’s peace always be with you and your families.
DeaconTim 734-502-1818
deacontim@tds.net
http://shamrockdeacon.blogspot.com

PBJ Outreach

All of you have been so supportive of this program in the last seven years and it is greatly appreciated. Yesterday, Saturday, October 3 was the seventh anniversary of the PBJ Outreach. Because of your support we have been able to feed and clothe in excess of 85,000 people. Currently we are in the process of expanding our operations. Our mission downtown on Saturday morning will never change. We are looking into ways to help more people and increase the number of days that we can serve as well as the number of ways that we can serve. There are several programs that we are looking at currently. All of them entail developing an enterprise which can be used as training for the homeless and the unemployed and also to (after it’s initial start-up) be self-sustaining and used as a feeder for addional operations , programs and locations to help the homeless, the marginalized poor and the unemployed. This segment of the PBJ will be completely separate from our current operations. It will be funded through grants from the government, foundations and private contriubtors. The success or failure of this enterprise will in no way effect our operations at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Third in the Cass Corridor. In conjunction with this we are looking at ways to enhance and help the services we provide to our friends every Saturday. Please keep all of us in your prayers. If you would like any additional information or have any questions, please contact me at 734-502-1818.
Deacon Tim