Mass for Life Homily ~ Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception ~ January 21, 1999 Part 1 of 3
Isaiah, God's prophet, tells us how God touched his life, and how God touches us. God called him as a baby before birth, scarcely stirring in the womb, beneath his mother's heart. “The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother's womb he pronounced my name.”
God's call to Isaiah was not a public call, for God hid him “in the shadow of his hand.” A true call from God. A quiet call. The kind of call that beckons every person here tonight, and everyone who is with us through television. Young or old, white or black or brown, rich or poor, healthy or sick, each one of us has a name, a dignity, a call, indeed, a destiny which comes from the Lord who made us and is forever. You are here tonight in response to the very special call to defend human life, and in particular the lives of the littlest and the weakest among us.
Before God who has made and called us, we are as the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 139) puts it, quite transparent:
“Lord, you examine me and know me, you know if I am standing or sitting, you read my thoughts from far away, whether I walk or lay down, you are watching.”
We are transparent, yes, and called to be something more, to be totally, excitedly grateful:
“It was you who created my inmost self, and put me together in my mother's womb; for all these mysteries I thank you: for the wonder of myself, for the wonder of your works.”
