Greetings! 
In life and death we belong to the Lord. Brent was a cherished member of his family and his community. He was a whiz at 50s and 60s rock trivia. He was also an avid Montana Grizzlies fan. When Brent went to be with the Lord about a year ago, his family told me that the doctors said he would never make it to his first birthday, then his second. The family stopped listening to those forecasts well before Brent became an adult. God gave him over 30 years. Today, most children who, like Brent, have Downs Syndrome, are never given a chance to survive outside their mothers' wombs. Abortion is denying us some wonderful gifts to this world.
Another family came to me when they were told that their daughter would likely not draw more than a breath or two once she was born. After doctors told them it was best to end her life midway through the pregnancy, the family came to talk. In time, they decided that if God had given them the gift of a child who would not live outside the womb, then they would celebrate however many days God did give them together. She was born, baptized, and named Sophia - a name meaning wisdom. I still am touched by the wisdom God granted her parents to know that Sophia was and still is a cherished member of her family even if she only lived but a few moments after birth.
In 1992, the archdiocesan Respect Life office published a little booklet entitled, In life and death we belong to the Lord, reflecting on the teaching of Romans 14:8. The booklet was one of the first written for people looking at end-of-life decisions and considering options such as living wills or advance medical directives. It flows from our most basic understanding of what we mean when we say we are pro-life. Every life is a gift from God from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. It is not ours to choose which lives have value or when it is acceptable to reject such a gift. Rather, we are merely stewards of the precious gift we have in one another.
I again congratulate the Lakers 4 Life, a group of our high school youth who have the courage to speak out about the sanctity and value of every human life. They will be honored with the John Paul II Champions for Life award on October 8. Let us pray for the courage to join them in speaking out about life as God's gift. You never know when your witness will make the difference in helping parents have the wisdom and courage needed to choose life.
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The Little Flower of Jesus: a Life of Love
Alexia Heise, Coordinator of High School Faith Formation
God is awesome, is he not? A couple of days ago, I was asked to write an article for the Angelus. I half-heartedly agreed, trying to decide what the Lord had in mind for us in the Faith Formation Program to share with you. I asked what day the Angelus comes out and was told Thursday, October 1. My heart leapt out of my chest! October 1 is the feast day of the Little Flower, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and because of this it also happens to be my all-time favorite day of the year! I celebrate by wearing an absurd amount of pink and pearls and filling my life with as many flowers as is humanly possible.
Saint Thérèse believed in love, love, and more love. She believed all other virtues came back to our love of God- our reckless abandon to a romance unlike any other. She wished to gather the tears of Jesus as though they were precious pearls and cherish them as such. She was a fearless little thing. What always moves me to the core is how unafraid she was of her own weakness, her own littleness. My favorite quote from Saint Thérèse is this: "The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness." She wanted God to smile when he looked down at His little flower, who loved being herself and giving God the gifts that only her heart could give.
As I begin my second year working at St. Michael's in High School Faith Formation, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to share this little Saint with you because I have adopted the spirituality of Saint Thérèse as my own and I consider her one of my dearest friends in heaven. She regularly refocuses my heart and reminds me what this life is all about: LOVE. She eases my fear when I worry that I am too little and weak to do this job well. She reminds me to make the effort to do every little act of service I can, even if it goes unseen or unnoticed, because it will make Jesus smile.
I wish to entrust this year of Faith Formation to her loving care, and I ask that everyone reading this would do the same. I also ask that you would take a moment right now, close your eyes, and remember how much Jesus loves you, in all of your littleness and weakness. Let this peace settle into your bones and give you the courage to go out and love our broken world with reckless abandon and complete joy. Please pray for our high schoolers, and know of my own prayers for you! Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, pray for us!
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