"It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day for this neighbor, won't you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor?" Many of you recognize theses lines from the popular children show, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood'. Everyday on the show, Mr. Rogers would be visited by Mr. Trolley. Mr. Trolley would come out and make a little noise and then off he would go to the "Land of Make Believe.' The Land of Make Believe!

Why do I mention all this tonight? Well, it appears my brothers and sisters, that our world, and in particular, our nation, is stuck in the land of make believe! We as a nation need to come out of the land of make believe and face reality fast! Look at all the violence and senseless acts of crime committed just in the last month here in RI. Tonight I purposely picked out the Visitation text so we can face reality with the help of Mary, our Mother.

Mary helps us face the reality of the sanctity of life. Recently our Supreme Court defeated the ban on partial birth abortion. They, the 5 out of the 9 judges, have made it legal to abort a child who is perfectly healthy only seconds from life outside the womb. The Land of Make Believe says that we should have this procedure because of an undue burden placed upon the women. Undue burden? The head of the child is all that needs to be delivered. The reality is that there is no case in which a woman's health would warrant this procedure. The reality is given to us by Mary as she sets out in haste to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Mary, a young, poor, unmarried, pregnant woman sets out to see her elderly, pregnant cousin. Burden? Certainly, these two women were burdened, but they saw their pregnancies as blessings, not burdens!

The Land of Make Believe would have us think that a blob of tissue grows within the womb. The reality is that human life grows inside every pregnant woman. Once again, we have to look no further than Mary and Elizabeth to see that human life is within their wombs. John the Baptist leaps inside the womb of Elizabeth. He leaps because he is aware of the presence of his savior in the womb across from him. My brothers and sisters, blobs of tissue do not leap! Human life leaps, and Mary points us to that reality!

The Land of Make Believe sees motherhood and pregnancy as a curse or disease. Look at the titles of the organizations advocating abortion. "planned parenthood", "zero population", etc… all see motherhood as a curse. In fact, these two organizations recently protested outside Walmarts. Walmarts rightly decided to not sell the morning after pill (i.e, abortifacient). The reality is once again pointed out by Mary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth cries out in a loud voice while Mary rejoices. The two see their pregnancies as blessings from God and not burdens! They are filled with joy.

The Land of Make Believe would have us fall into despair at the state of our country. The reality is that we are called to rejoice like Mary. We are called to be full of joy. My brothers and sisters, the Victory has been won. By the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Victory over sin and death has been won. We still fight the good fight and persevere, but we must always remember that the Victory has been won. Let us always be examples of the joy that Mary had and go forth witnessing to the sanctity of life.