3rd Sunday - Respect Life

 Abortion - A Person is a Person No Matter How Small

 

The first reading and Gospel for today remind us of the role of the priest in interpreting scripture and how the priest is anointed to speak on behalf of God to the people today. And today, I will speak to you on behalf of God about respecting life.

The first reading is from the book of Nehemiah. The Jews were taken into captivity in 721 BC and their temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. 230 years later their captivity is over and are returning to Israel. Once they reach their Jewish soil, the priest Ezra explains to the people the content of the Law and interprets what was read.

During the time of Jesus, it was customary for Jews to read scriptures at the synagogue and the reader gave his interpretation. And this is what Jesus did in today’s Gospel. He first read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Then He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Every Jew knew this particular passage referred to the future messiah. And so they understood Jesus was declaring Himself the Messiah.

Every Catholic priest is anointed when ordained. Just like Ezra and Jesus, the priest reads scripture and then comments on it, which is a homily. Every priest receives three gifts: to teach, to sanctify and to govern. When a priest gives a homily or when He teaches, He is anointed to speak on behalf of God to the people. Today, I am going to speak to you on behalf of God with regard to respecting life.

Yesterday was the 49^th anniversary of Roe vs Wade that legalized abortion. Soon the US Supreme Court will decide if Mississippi's law is constitutional limiting abortion to 15 weeks from conception and many hope and pray for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Also this year, Kansans will vote on the Value them Both bill. Since Roe vs Wade, over 62 million children have died from abortion and all their mothers and fathers have been wounded and deeply hurt by abortion.

To show how abortion affects the world, here is an example. Cardinal Raymond Burke told a reporter, the doctor pressured his mother to abort him. The doctor told his mother, the doctor told his mother, who was very sick while pregnant with the future Cardinal Burke, “You already have five children,” “it is important for you to be in good health so as to take care of them.” Fortunately, his parents refused. “My parents told him that they believed in God,” Cardinal Burke relates, “and that Christ would give them the necessary help. My mother gave birth to me, and everything went well.”

A few years ago, I offered a private Mass on my day off to close the abortion clinic in Wichita. During Mass, I prayed for those thinking about having an abortion, will change their mind, those who had an abortion will find healing and God’s merciful forgiveness and those who work in the abortion clinic, will quit and become pro-life. About an hour later, I went to the abortion clinic, and several of us prayed the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Litany of the Saints at the gates of the clinic. Then a woman came out of the clinic and walked up to us and said, “I just couldn’t do it. The doctor told me I am pregnant with twins. I could do one of them, but couldn’t afford to pay for two of them, so I’m going to keep my babies.” About 20 min. later a young woman in her 20’s and her 5 yr. old daughter as well as a woman in her 50’s left the clinic and the woman in her 20’s said, “I’m not going to have an abortion, I’m pregnant with twins.” My friends with 30 min, four babies were saved. The prayers offered outside the clinic and the Holy Mass offered that morning, resulted in saving the lives of four children and also saved their mothers and their families from a future life of pain and regret. We can see the power of prayer, especially the Holy Mass, the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Litany of the Saints. God wants us to use these to help the confused. There should never be a choice to take the life of an innocent person. Everyone has the ability to say yes and the ability to give a child up for adoption to a couple who can’t have children.

Its dangerous when a human being is not considered a person. When an unborn baby is not considered a person, than the baby has no rights and is considered the property of the parents and so they can do with them as they want, even to kill them. Where does this mentality come from? In the United States blacks were slaves and were the property of slave owners. They were not considered human and so the owner of the slave had the right to abuse and even kill the slave which was legal. But it took a civil war before they were considered citizens with rights.

Also in the US, women did not have rights. They were considered the property of their father or their husband and could not even vote until 1920. But the truth is women are not the property of men. Blacks are not the property of any person. An unborn child is not the property of their parents. St. Paul said, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price.” (1 Corn. 6:19) Our body came from God, we are not our own, we were purchased at the price of the blood of Jesus. All of us are created in the image of likeness of God. All life is sacred and we are holy because God dwells within us.

Let me ask you some questions. Do you think it should be against the law to kill a baby after birth? President Biden and Kamala Harris as well as the former governor Virginia thought so. Should it be against the law to abort a baby just before birth? Should it be against the law to abort a viable baby after 24 weeks? What about a baby who is 15 weeks? What about a baby, who feels pain? What if an unborn baby has a beating heart? Should it be against the law to abort a baby just after conception? A person is a person no matter how small.

Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary and scripture tells us immediately after His incarnation, Mary went in haste to visit Her cousin Elizabeth, who was with child. Did you know it was a 5 day journey for Mary to travel from Nazareth to Ain Karem, where Elizabeth lived. And when Mary greeted Elizabeth, the unborn John the Baptist leapt with joy and Elizabeth recognized Mary was with child as she said, “Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” Just think Jesus was only 5 days from conception in the womb of Mary. He did not yet have a beating heart, nor hands, nor eyes, yet His divine presence caused an unborn John the Baptist to recognize Our Lord was present as well as his mother, Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is a divine person with a human and divine nature. A person is a person, no matter how small.

It is a scientific fact, a new person is created at the moment of conception, because the child has its own DNA. As Catholics we believe God infuses an immortal soul into a child at the moment of conception. We believe we are created in the image and likeness of God. The prophet Jeremiah states, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Before we were even created, God knew us and has a plan for each of us.

Dr. Bernard Nathason, a former Jewish abortionist oversaw 75,000 abortions and performed 5000 himself. Be he changed his mind when he saw the silent scream of an unborn child on an ultrasound when he we doing an abortion. But when He was baptized, God forgave all his sins and the punishment due to his sins and God came to dwell in his heart. So if he would have died immediately after his baptism, he would have went straight to heaven. The greater the sinner, the greater one’s right to God’s mercy.

Abby Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood, had two abortions and then assisted in an abortion, but realized the wrong she was doing and when she became Catholic, Jesus forgave all her sins and washed them away in the ocean of God’s mercy.

Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. But Jesus appeared to her first, before He appeared to the Apostles because she repented when washed the feet of Jesus with her tears. Jesus told Simon the Pharisee about Mary Magdalane, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much...” (Luke 7:47-48)

My friends, we are all human, we all make mistakes, and can make wrong decisions based upon misinformation of what others tell us or what they failed to tell us or maybe we ourselves chose not to seek the truth. But we must trust in God’s mercy.

The Church as a mother wants to help her children. She gives us priests to teach us about respecting life. The Church gives us the sacraments for grace and healing when we hurt our self and others. Jesus acts through priests, through the sacraments and through the people of God to help all of our brothers and sisters in Christ deeply hurt.

The boyfriend who helped his girlfriend to have an abortion, the parents of the pregnant girl, who forced the child to have an abortion, grandparents, who participated, friends who wrongly scheduled the abortion-- nurses or doctors who encouraged the abortion, everyone--everyone--everyone can be forgiven! There is no sin Jesus will not forgive. If you have been affected by abortion, know Jesus loves you and forgives you. Jesus understands when a young girl is pressured or told a lie, its not a baby, but only tissue. Sometimes the devil tries to make us doubt in God’s mercy. He will say, “God will never forgive you. Your sin is too great.” Or after you confessed the sin, the devil will make us doubt God forgave us, and a result, we will keep confessing the sin over and over. But we can’t give in to lies, rather we trust in God’s mercy. We pray, “Jesus I trust in You”, and Jesus forgets the sin after we have confessed it and so should we.

There is a diocesan organization called Project Rachel which gives retreats, some of its leaders have had an abortion, and they want to help others to find healing, like they received and want to bring peace of heart and healing of the spirit and soul to all those hurt by abortion.

Jesus gives us hope. Jesus gives us love. Jesus gives us forgiveness. Jesus gives us mercy. Jesus gives us healing. Jesus gives us a future of peace and joy.

Jesus told St. Faustina, “My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. (Diary 1182). Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the immeasurable depths of My mercy.” (Diary 1059)

The Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday. On that day, The Lord opens wide the gates of His mercy and makes our soul like it was at baptism. If we go to confession during Lent, and receive Holy Communion, on the feast of mercy, our sins will be forgiven and all the punishment due to our sins are forgiven. We should look forward to that day, when all is washed away in the ocean of God’s mercy.

How beautiful at Holy Trinity we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy before or after every Mass along with the Holy Rosary. It must be very pleasing to God, we are praying for mercy for the whole world.

During this year of the Eucharist, let the light, love and power of Jesus in the Eucharist shine forth from His beating Heart by you spending time in Eucharistic Adoration, offering your Holy Hour for an end to abortion, to close Planned Parenthood and the abortion clinic in Wichita. To offer the graces you receive in Holy Communion. Jesus wants to use you as channel of grace and love to change the hearts and minds of those who are confused and hurting. Will you offer your Holy Communion today for that purpose? To offer the graces you receive by being present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Will you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy often.

Let us turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who miraculously conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and ask our heavenly Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to intercede for our country so government legislators and judges will outlaw abortion, and every American will have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And most especially the right to life, for without life, we cannot have liberty, nor pursue happiness.