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David C: Respect for Life

A couple weeks ago, the Priest at my parish got up and spoke passionately about something that seemed quite odd for a normal Mass. It was about abortion, which is a quite controversial topic. It seemed weird that a Priest would decide to deviate from a normal sermon to speak about abortion. As soon as the Father spoke, the atmosphere of church completely changed. It became serious, the Father’s tone of voice was more emotional than it had ever been before. First, the Father talked about the problem that American’s faced and could solve if we worked together. Then he began to explain why abortion was such a large issue today. It stemmed from one thing, a lack of respect for life.  The Father urged everyone to respect life, not only by opposing abortion but by caring for each person we encounter. The those three words, “respect for life”, have stuck in my mind for over a month. Not only because the are true and important but because of the way they were delivered.

The Priest, by virtue of being a Priest, already had ethos. He was respectable, cared for the church, and always wanted the best for its members. He only needed to establish Pathos and Logos. By his tone of his voice and caring personality, he drew the entire church into his sermon, therefore establishing pathos. The most impressive part of the Father’s speech was the logos he established. The three words, “respect for life”, are a logical explanation to deter abortion by itself. We need to respect life before we can save it, but until then, until every American respects life, there will be no basis for abortion to be condemned.
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Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 23, 2017 at 5:45 AM

    Your Priest knows how to change the whole atmosphere with just one topic, sounds like a great speaker.

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2017 at 1:47 PM

    By simply reading the first few sentences of this post I felt as if I could see the changes you felt in your church that day. The way you described the scene was very detailed and interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Your description alone added to the point of what the Father was saying. "Respect for life" is a serious topic and the solemnity you depict in your church that Sunday is absolutely fitting and convicting.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 2, 2017 at 5:27 PM

    It is abundantly clear that we really do need to practice respecting others everyday. It is true that it is unreasonable to assume that we could respect the life of a baby we have never met if we do not respect the people we interact with everyday. This is a very inspiring sermon.

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