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From the
Director’s Desk-
Msgr.
Richard McGuinness
SOMETIMES IT'S NOT "NICE" TO
BE NICE!
Being "nice" usually means being polite and
kind, trying not to offend others. But if someone tells lies about you, and
you don't do something to correct them, others may think that what was said
about you was true. You could lose your good name and reputation. You have
a right and a duty to correct them, to protect yourself. If someone says
that tainted meat is perfectly safe, when you know it is not, and you don't
speak up, others can suffer severe illness or even die because of your
silence.
If someone says that abortion is merely
removing a blob of tissue, not a tiny human baby, and we say nothing,
instead of correcting them, because we want to be "nice", then we are
failing to defend the right to life of tiny children who cannot speak for
themselves. Failing to speak up against those who feel that the lives of
the elderly, handicapped or terminally ill are not worthy of keeping alive,
can likewise result in creating the impression that it is all right to "put
them down" like an animal.
Failing to speak up for the right to life
of others, for fear of offending others is not nice. It shows a lack of
courage, a lack of compassion for those whose lives are endangered by our
silence. When we stand before God to be judged, we will not be asked if we
were nice. We will be asked, "Why did you not speak up to tell the
truth - and to defend my little friends and my helpless friends?"
What will be our answer?
Msgr. Richard McGuinness is the Director of the
Respect Life Office of the Newark Archdiocese.
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