“Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak.” – St. Anthony of Padua
Both our actions and our words say a lot about who we are as children of God. What we do, how we treat people, and how we conduct ourselves can either lead us toward Christ or away from Him. We must always keep this in mind, whether we are at home with our families or out in our communities.
We must also keep this in mind as we watch the news and gather information about the events going on in our world today, as sadly, many stories in the news are excellent examples of people behaving badly and encouraging sin. On a daily basis, we see men and women who hold important political positions advocating for the death of tiny preborn babies. Both their words and actions not only hurt mothers but lead to countless deaths. For instance, LifeSiteNews reports that “Joe Biden stated that abortions are ‘essential health care that cannot be delayed’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.” It also reports that Hillary Clinton “encouraged the likely Democratic presidential nominee [Biden] to support a ‘universal health care’ plan that would include taxpayer-funded abortions.”
It’s like watching a game of high-stakes poker where the chips are actually human beings.
But human beings are not poker chips. Human beings are gifts made in the image and likeness of God. They are not to be thrown away, discarded, or bartered for. Each individual person has a unique and unrepeatable soul that must be protected, cherished, and loved. As pro-lifers, we strive to teach people this every day because we live in Christ’s love and hope.
So we take action. We work to educate others. We work to protect others. And we work to give hope because, in times like these—when we are all bearing individual crosses related to the pandemic—people cannot always see hope. But we know that it exists. Indeed, hope exists all around us in abundance. We just need to know where to look.
And when we do look, we can’t help but feel overcome with joy at the good works of people—especially today. We see it in Texas, where a pro-life group helped a pregnant mother choose life for her baby. We see volunteers helping the elderly and routinely checking on those who are isolated. We read about a landlord who canceled rent payments for hundreds of his renters because he knew they were struggling financially. We read about educational services, like the Culture of Life Studies Program and others, who are offering downloadable lessons free of charge to help overwhelmed parents. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
All these people and organizations help build a culture of life with their actions.
Yet, many of them do these kind works on a daily basis regardless of whether or not there’s a pandemic going on. They do it because that is what our faith commands. In James 2:14-17 we read:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
In a world often ravaged by despair, we must let our good works shine the light of Christ. We must show others that they matter, that they are valued, and that we care. We need to be hope when people feel they have none.
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