I noted in a previous column that October is the month of the Rosary. But this month is special under another title as well.

It is Respect Life Month.

Of course every day, week and month is an opportunity for us to respect the gift of life. But in October, we focus in a special way on the challenges and, yes, the threats, to God’s gift of life, especially for those not yet born and for those close to death.

Much has been made of the recent comments of Pope Francis during an interview published in America magazine last month that the Church needs to speak about some of the modern “hot button” issues like abortion in a context.

But lest anyone think that this context mentioned by the Holy Father somehow excludes or waters down the Church’s historical efforts in favor of life, we need to follow his thought more closely.

In that same interview, the pope said that the context is first this, “Jesus Christ has saved you.” And he went on to make clear that the wider context is the whole teaching of the Church. That teaching of faith and morals does not change from generation to generation, or from pope to pope.

Still, it is clear that Pope Francis is giving us guidance for the proclamation of the Gospel message of life, especially to the modern mind and the world of today.

He reminds us that human life, and the dignity that is part of that gift, always comes from and leads us to God. It is therefore, in all its forms, a source of joy. Our proclamation and our efforts to respect life must be joyful.

In 2001, for the first time, I attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

As you may know, every Jan. 22, on the anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, that legalized abortion in our beloved country, hundreds of thousands march down Constitution Avenue. I was amazed to see that the participants in the march were, overwhelmingly, young people.

Their marching, their shouts, their laughter were all a joyous proclamation acknowledging that human life shows us the image of God Himself. They were spirited, happy and convinced.

As well, along the route, were some others who, with good will, chose another approach. They held signs with language of anger denouncing abortion. I could well image the anguish in their consciences thinking, as we all do, of the modern sacrifice of the innocent, especially those in the womb.

I was sure I understood what they wanted to convey. But the thought occurred to me: if I were a young woman, pregnant, alone and in doubt, perhaps frightened or wondering where to turn or what to do, wouldn’t the positive message of love call to my heart more? Wouldn’t those young people encourage me more to think of love for my baby?

I think this is what Pope Francis is getting at.

Our message is clear. The Church’s teaching binds us, whether we are average citizens, voters, politicians, judges, or fathers and mothers. It obliges us to love most deeply those who are weakest and vulnerable. But we do so in a context. It is this: God is love.

The day after the Holy Father’s interview was published, he gave a speech to doctors. In that talk he said, “Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord. … And every elderly person, even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ.” This is the context of love, the context of faith.

October, the month of the Rosary, Respect Life Month. Sometimes, I wish October would never end.