Written On Our Hearts

January is Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church; this is due in large part to the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade that legalized on-demand abortion in the United States. That decision made by the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973 declared war on innocent humans in the most vulnerable stages of our development. It’s hard to believe that for the past forty-four years the sanctuary of the womb has become a warzone. The ongoing conflict between the pro-life and abortion rights movement has been fought on many different battlefields; legislative, economic, social, cultural and religious. These are important battlefronts for us to remain engaged, but most importantly we must capture the heart to transform our society from a culture of death into a culture of life. Sometimes pro-life supporters and advocates (including myself) forget that those in the abortion rights movement have a heart and that we can appeal to it. Often we talk to and about our opponents as heartless monsters. I’m not ...

In a pivotal moment during the stop motion animated film Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the humbled and seemingly defeated Winter Warlock exclaims, “ I really am a mean and despicable creature at heart you know. It is so difficult to really change .” Kris Kringle’s reaction to that comment is a hearty laugh and the reply, “ Difficult? Why look here, changing from bad to good is as easy as taking your first step .” Then he breaks out in song, singing the children’s Christmas classic Put One Foot In Front Of The Other. As you watch Kringle prance around the enchanted forest emboldening penguins, reindeer and the icy Warlock to change, you can’t help but be nostalgically inspired. Yes, it only took 3 minutes and a little Christmas magic to convert the entire forest, not too bad for a day’s work at the North Pole.  While on the screen this conversion seems to happen instantly, the lyrics and message of Put One Foot In Front Of The Other seem to be saying something completely differe...