JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Another excellent pro-life/pro-family Gospel reflection from "Our Faith on Sunday"

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Another excellent pro-life/pro-family Gospel reflection from "Our Faith on Sunday"

On 12 November I blogged about the excellent Gospel reflection on true and false marriage featured in the previous weekend's "Our Faith on Sunday" Mass sheets used in many Catholic parishes, published by The Catholic Printing Company of Farnworth. So I'm delighted to read another equally excellent pro-life/pro-family Gospel reflection in the latest "Our Faith on Sunday. It reads (my emphases in bold):

"We can call Christ 'King' for two reasons. First, because as God, He created us. Secondly because as man, He redeemed us. The gospel shows Him 'buying back' the good thief from his past life, and even assuring him of his place in paradise after death.

To earthly kings and other earthly authorities, we owe a real but limited allegiance. To our Lord, Creator and Redeemer, our allegiance must be total. There is no aspect of our lives about which we may say to Him, 'Here, you may not enter'. If we are Christians, our desire must be that all our actions, thoughts and words should be worthy of Him.

What is true of Christians taken individually is also true of them united in society. Society, too, owes an allegiance to Christ the King. It is only by acknowledging His law and His rights that a society can be healthy.

If we know that Christ is King, we must certainly begin by asking Him to reign in our own lives. But we shouldn't stop there. We should also ask Him to reign in our society. We should pray for the repeal of unjust and immoral 'laws' about marriage and abortion. We should speak the truth about these things, even when it is unpopular. And we must pray that holy Church., where Christ reigns on earth, may be helped by earthly rulers who recognise their duties towards the King of kings."

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.