We all have days and weeks in our lives that are more filled with activities than others. Sometimes those "more" days or weeks can be overwhelming as we try to do justice to all we have to do. I believe that the argument could be made that this past week is one of those "more" weeks that included the commemoration of the birth of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" and the 50th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision of the Supreme Court that made the abortion of an unborn child in his or her mother's womb a legal right (and has only recently been overturned by the current Supreme Court. The first and third of these three have to do with human rights which are "God-given" and God ordained and SHOULD NOT be left up to legislatures, courts or any individuals to decide as if they have a power or authority equal or even greater than God! The imperative of God in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18; Dtr. 6 4-5) that was made ever more clear by Jesus Christ, (our Lord AND GOD) is that we love God with our entire being and love our neighbor as ourselves and that means respecting and (in the case of an unborn child, some elderly who are helpless because of mental and/or physical deterioration, and even the criminally convicted) protecting them from injury or harm from individuals and even from the state that might devalue their lives to the point of killing them or letting them die. As it is important that we act in ways that respect and protect the lives of people in their mother's womb, it is also important that we pray for conversion in those who need to change their thoughts and actions in the ways of God. We pray in this "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" that all Christians seek to be one, if not in devotional and liturgical practices, ALWAYS in protecting and promoting the "God given" rights of all who are created in the image and likeness of God! Sadly and even tragically, we have a great deal of needed growth in this area and in others. At the Mass on the day that commemorates the birthday of Dr Marting Luther King, Jr we sang two songs that had appropriate words that I hope convey the beliefs, feelings and actionsl of all of us who are reading this column and many more. The first one is the first verse from the song "In Christ There is no East or West" and goes, "In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north, but one great family bound by love throughout the whole wide earth." The second is the song "Companions on the Journey" whose first verse says this: "We are companions on the journey, breaking bread and sharing life. And in the love we bear is the hope we share, for we believe in the love of our God, we believe in the love of our God."