My dear family in Christ,

As we prepare to end September and enter October, I wish to offer a reminder that October is both Respect Life Month and the Month of the Holy Rosary. Heeding the call of the Church to stand up for the precious gift of human life, from its very beginning in the womb until called home to the Lord, I invite us all to seek the intercession of Our Lady in offering a rosary or at least a decade of the rosary each day in October for an increase of the respect for life.

In our beautiful State of Vermont, we face the great challenge of speaking up for those who may not have a voice, the unborn, those facing terminal illnesses, the elderly, immigrants, refugees and wherever the dignity and gift of human life is not upheld or honored. While present laws and attitudes often identify these lives as unimportant and at times burdensome, we are called to remind others that each life, from conception to natural death, has value because it has been created in the image and likeness of God. And this is especially the case for those who do not yet have a voice.

Please join me this October in asking Our Lady to intercede for those whose lives are threatened and that those hearts hardened against the gift of life will be softened.

Thanking you for your support for life and remembering that God alone suffices, I remain, devotedly yours in Christ.

+JMcD