Tuesday of 1 Lent, 2006

Grant to thy people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of he world, the flesh and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only true God; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Eucharistic lectionary
Psalm 34.15-22
Isaiah 55.6-11
Matthew 6.7-15


Today we face the largest and most diverse sort of temptations ever seen or conceived by man. Late last night, the governor of South Dakota signed into law a sweeping 'new' anti-abortion law; a law which makes no provision for the sins of incest and rape,with exception only in case of the life threat to the mother.

The greatest sin propounded by this 'fine example of modern legislation' is the inclusion of language which guarantees the 'father' of a rape or incest product full parental rights, if he so chooses. He is given unlimited visitation rights, has the right to determine where and how the child is to be raised, and all totally without any concern or regard for the mother's rights or feelings. This is tacked on possibly to insure his full participation in the fiscal support of the child, but I don't see that as a real plus in this law.

South Dakota has been offered the rare opportunity and priviledge by her governor to spend countless millions of dollars of tax payer monies and endless hours of appellate process, all the way to the Supreme Court, to perhaps, in the end, to lose and have this law rescinded and abrogated by the court systems of this nation.

Child of God, would it not be so much simpler and less expensive to merely let God have his sovereign way in our lives; for our nuclear and extended families and the Church to take back their responsibilities to properly raise children in the 'fear and admonition of God'.

The innocence of youth is no more, and it is solely because we, as adults, have diminished it. Our children must seek elsewhere, the love and affection they need for proper physical, social, and emotional development, care that they should be finding every day, at home or at church; not on the street corners at night, as I observed from my living room window last night, or at school, loosely supervised.

Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, grandparents take back your children and their raising NOW before we lose all controls over the direction our precious children are directed in their early lives! The schools have operated for years 'in loco parentis', in the place of parents, because we and generations before us have allowed it. We have been 'too busy', 'too involved elsewhere', making a living, following a career, to be the parents God has called you to be.

Being a parent is the singularly greatest vocation and avocation in the world, but we have abandoned parenthood, and our children, for too long. What will you do about it? Because it is a question of 'will' not 'can'.

YOU must make a choice to purpose, to 'will', to decide, what you will do with, for and in regard to your children.

So, what do you will? Amen.