the happiest ending

On Wednesday we found ourselves at the start of Lent: a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and spiritual preparation for the Resurrection miracle of Christ on Easter Sunday. Now is a time for Christians to reflect more deeply on our life in the Author of Life and the mystery of His conquering death once and for all: the feat which is the heart of Christianity; the event that stands as "the crowning truth of our faith in Christ"[1].

John Paul II taught us that now is also when "the Church is recollected in contemplation of the risen Christ. Thus she relives the primordial experience that lies at the basis of her existence. She feels imbued with the same wonder as Mary Magdalene and the other women who went to Christ's tomb on Easter morning and found it empty. That tomb became the womb of life"[2].

Our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, offered a beautiful reflection to begin this Lenten season. His words focus on the "great theme of justice" so that it might reign in our hearts and lives, now and always. What a magnificent virtue to contemplate as we enter this season of life! For without justice, it is impossible to live one's life to the full.

But in order for justice to reign, we must combat injustice wherever it thrives. And surely, in America, it has found no success more overwhelming than in the abortion mill. Abortion is the highest insult of the family unit, the superlative attack against society, the ultimate exploitation of humanity. Indeed, it is injustice incarnate.

Given this knowledge, we find ourselves asking, "How do we fight it?" We know abortion is there, but we can't seem to grasp it. We aren't sure how to pull it up by its roots. It often appears an amorphous tyrant that we cannot get ahold of. But our Holy Father gives us crucial insight that informs us of of its genesis: "Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious cooperation with evil." When reading these words, I am reminded not only of the unjust abortion act itself, but where that injustice really happens.

Of course, abortions occur, in a literal sense, in the abortion mill. These clinics have the necessary equipment to dismember, burn, and suffocate unborn children. But I think there is more to it than that. Any woman who steps foot into a Planned Parenthood for her procedure has already aborted her child, spiritually, some time ago. Perhaps it was out of fear, shame, or hopelessness; maybe it was out of desperation, because of a feeling that she had no other place to go; but for whatever reason, she has managed to force her child out of her heart, out of her conscience, out of her spirit. Thus, the abortion injustice has its core in the human heart, where Satan whispers lies to a woman that coerce her to first spiritually, and then physically, reject her baby. There is simply no other way to explain it, as abortion is entirely unnatural. Mothers have an innate impetus to care for and nurture their offspring. Yet abortion is the very antithesis of motherhood. It is anti-woman, anti-family, anti-life. It is pro-destruction, pro-distortion, pro-death. And this contortion of true femininity, of a woman's ontological makeup, is where so much of the abortion tragedy lies. As Mother Teresa said, "We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?"

Thus, as pro-lifers, we need to delve into the depths of the issue. We ought to address not only the social and ethical ramifications of abortion, but its equally real spiritual ramifications, too. For it is deep within the heart of the woman, or the boyfriend, or the abortionist, or the counselor, where the abortion decision is wrestled with and chosen. And without God's life-giving grace, that person will not be able to make the right choice. In faithfulness, may we pray that that woman or man be given the graces necessary to choose life over death.

There is no doubt that Christ came for the sake of life. He tells us, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full"[3]. He then goes so far as to say that He Himself is life: "I am the way and the truth and the life"[4]. In gratitude for Jesus' paramount gift of Himself on the cross, we are inspired to become life-giving vessels for others. "Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love. May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfill every justice"[5]. May we be renewed in our efforts and rejuvenated in our energies towards defending the unborn. And may we draw life from the joy of the Resurrection, remembering that Christ's rising conquered all death– perhaps most especially that death forced upon the tiniest, weakest and most innocent members of the human family.

Darkness into light. Death into life. We know how the story ends– and it is the happiest ending we could have ever imagined.

Vita Pro Omni!

[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 638

[2] Christ's Resurrection was a Concrete Event

[3] John 10:10

[4] John 14:6

[5] Pope Benedict XVI, Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2010, emphasis mine