Pastoral Letter | Every child brings us God's smile

Archbishop Robert J. CarlsonDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I love the theme for the 2009-2010 Respect Life Sunday, which was taken from Pope Benedict XVI's wonderful statement, "Every child brings us God's smile." This simple statement tells us so much about God and about the beauty and dignity of every human life.

Our God is someone who smiles. He is loving and joyful and filled to overflowing with goodness. Out of God's goodness comes life — all of creation — with its natural wonders, its breathtaking loveliness and its marvelous diversity. Minerals, plants, animals and human beings all come into existence because of the goodness of God, the joyful Creator.

Every human person is made in the image and likeness of this smiling, joyful God. From the moment of conception to the experience of natural death, our very existence as human persons gives witness to the unbounded goodness of God. Because of our human sinfulness, as we grow older we may turn the smile He gave us into a frown or a scowl or even bitter tears. But that is not the way God made us.

At just 11 weeks in the womb, an unborn child smiles.

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