St. Louis, Mo., Oct 3, 2010 / 04:02 am
Taking as his theme the statement of Pope Benedict XVI, that “every child brings us God's smile,” Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis wrote on Wednesday that the defense of all members of humanity, from conception to natural death, is ultimately rooted in joy and gratitude for God's gift of life.
God, the archbishop taught, is “not cold or uncaring,” but “loving and joyful,” creating the universe and every human person for the sake of love. Archbishop Carlson expressed his thoughts in the St. Louis Review, in anticipation of this year's Respect Life Sunday on October 3.
“At just 11 weeks in the womb,” he observed, “an unborn child smiles. Skeptics say this is simply an involuntary contraction of face muscles. People of faith know better. We believe that this unborn child has already begun his or her lifelong journey as a child of God.”
“Because we are confident that every child brings us God's smile, we believe that the smiling child in his or her mother's womb is telling us something important.”