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Reflections at the Mass for Life
Dear Friends, Despite Mary’s importance as the mother of Jesus, there are only a few gospel passages about her. We hear the stories of the Annunciation and Visitation a lot. So often, in fact, that it’s easy to tune them out and miss important details. Luke’s account of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth depicts a close-knit family and community where people care for and encourage one another. When Mary learns that both she and Elizabeth are with child, her first instinct is to travel in haste to offer help, and I suspect, to seek the solace and comfort of her older cousin. It’s easy to imagine this energetic teen taking care of Elizabeth, who at her advanced age, must have been going through a rough pregnancy. And all during those three months, I can guarantee that Elizabeth was dishing out large doses of practical advice and emotional support to Mary, who was, after all a very young and vulnerable unwed mother. Listen again to what happened after Elizabeth gave birth: “Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.” Elizabeth was not alone. She faced the challenges of pregnancy and motherhood with the support and encouragement of a close network of family and friends. No one can be an effective parent alone. We all know this. We all nod our heads when we hear the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Youthful as she was, Mary grasped in her Magnificat the profound truth of God’s justice: God’s mercy extends to each and every one of us, especially to the lowly, the poor, and the hungry. And it’s God’s form of justice that undergirds the Catholic Church’s consistent ethic of life. We are called to create a society where every single human being is welcome, and where we take special care of those who are most weak and defenseless—the unborn in the womb, the mentally and physically handicapped, the elderly and terminally ill, the poor and homeless in our midst, victims of war, violence and oppression, and, yes, even murderers on death row. For a moment, I want to focus on the victims of abortion. This weekend is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States. Since that decision, in 1973, over 50-million abortions have been performed. 50-million children have gone missing. Their mothers and fathers are wounded, their grandparents, aunts, uncles and whole families are hurting, our communities are permanently scarred, and the divisions in our nation are increasing. I remember January 22, 1973 quite clearly. I was 21-years old, about to begin my last semester of college. I had recently become engaged to a young law student at Georgetown University, and I had taken advantage of the extended Christmas break to go see him in Washington. This was my very first visit to our nation’s capital. I remember the weather was very sunny, crisp and cold. That morning, the Supreme Court issued its famous abortion decision. And there was another piece of big news that afternoon: former President Lyndon Johnson, architect of the War on Poverty, advocate of the Civil Rights Movement, as well as heir and escalator of the War in Vietnam, died suddenly at his Texas ranch. Beneath Washington’s golden winter skies, all the American flags immediately dropped to half-mast. Our country had gone into mourning. On the very next day, January 23rd, President Nixon announced that, at long last, a peace accord had been reached in Vietnam. The official end to the war, in which 58,000 Americans had died, came four days later. Roe v. Wade was issued in the context of tremendous social and political turmoil in the United States and around the world. Ethical and social mores were changing, families and communities fragmenting. Legalized abortion seemed the answer to women’s demands for equal rights and to the break down of traditional supports for pregnant women and mothers. I did not think much about the abortion decision until I myself became a parent. Only then did I begin to realize just how much love and support, along with basic financial security, a mother needed in order to say yes to her pregnancy and yes to the child growing within her. We know why women resort to abortion: The stress and emotions of an unplanned pregnancy coupled with the often times overwhelming search for basic needs, such as health care and housing, can lead a woman to feel she has no choice. Many women lack the support of their family or the child’s father. They lack the resources that would allow them to combine work and child rearing, or feel forced to choose between their education and their children. But we can do so much better. Abortion is wrong. It is never the right answer. It takes a life, it hurts women and men and our communities. When we offer abortion as a solution, we fail women. And when women settle for abortion, they settle for far less than they need and deserve. I would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned. But I also know that ultimately the end of abortion will not come through any action of our courts or legislatures. Only when we become a community known for loving as Jesus loved—loving not just the unborn, but all people who suffer and die because their lives are not valued—only then, will we be able to draw women from the brink of despair into a circle of care and support that enables them to choose life for their children. Here at St. James, we are building such a community in our Pregnancy Support Ministry. For the last six years, we have reached out to women in crisis pregnancies and said to them: This is the most important thing you will ever do in your life, and we will not allow you to take short cuts, nor will we abandon you to struggle alone.” We have accompanied woman throughout the journey of their pregnancies, and we have continued serve them as long as they have needed. I invite each one of you to join us in this ministry. Mary so eloquently expressed the biblical ideal of justice in her Magnificat. The law of God, written in the hearts of Mary and Elizabeth, turned them away from the rule of power and exploitation to the law of love. We pray that Mary’s Son will write his law upon our hearts, so that we may grow ever more committed to love and serve his people. |
