Evil of Abortion/Jesus Living in Mary

Homily 2nd Sun. Advent Yr C

(Evil of Abortion; Jesus Living in Mary)

Fr. Dwight P. Campbell, S.T.D.

 

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am asking your prayers today for our country. At this time in our nation’s history we stand at an historic crossroads:
whether to continue to allow the legalized murder of preborn babies in the womb by abortion – an ongoing holocaust that has taken the lives of more than 60 million human beings over the past 50 years; or whether to prohibit this evil which is like a deep, festering cancer on our country.
If you have not heard, this past week the Supreme Court heard arguments and will now be deciding a case that will determine the fate of the lives of tens, maybe hundreds of millions of human beings in the future: whether or not children in the womb will be given the right to life under the laws of our nation, or be denied that right.
First, a little history.
In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court said that a fetus is not a person but “potential life,” and therefore does not have any constitutional rights of its own – especially, and most importantly, the right to life:
it gave a woman the right to abort the child in her womb during the full nine months of pregnancy.
The Court’s rationale really made no sense; it was mind boggling:
What exactly is “potential life”? Either something is alive or it is not. A child in the womb is most certainly alive.
The S. Ct. created this “right” to abortion, supposedly based on the right to privacy; but it is found nowhere in the Constitution and for this reason Justice Byron White, who wrote a dissenting opinion in Roe v. Wade, called the Court’s decision an exercise of “RAW JUDICIAL POWER.”
Almost 20 years later, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the S. Ct. reaffirmed the Roe v. Wade decision.
The Court refused to overturn Roe v. Wade even though by this time all the medical evidence clearly showed that human life begins at conception.
The rational for allowing the murder of preborn children in the womb to continue in our country was basically summarized in one sentence: I quote: “people had organized their intimate relationships and made choices … in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event contraception should fail.”
There you have it, my friends. The killing of children within the womb must remain “legal” because women need a back-up when contraception fails.
Fast forward 30 years to 2021. Just this past Wednesday arguments were made before the Supreme Court in a case that may at least partially overturn Roe v. Wade. The State of Mississippi has passed a law that basically bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
In oral arguments before the Court this past Wed., pro-abortion Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is clearly in favor of striking down the Mississippi law as “unconstitutional,” made a statement that reveals how those who favor abortion adamantly refuse to acknowledge the truth about the humanity of the unborn child and will use any argument, no matter how ludicrous, to keep abortion legal.
In response to the argument that during the abortion procedure the preborn children feel pain while their tiny bodies are being torn apart, Justice Sotomayor said: “There’s about 40% of dead people who, if you touch their feet, the foot will recoil. There are spontaneous acts by dead brain people. So I don’t think that a response by a fetus necessarily proves that there’s a sensation of pain or that there’s consciousness.”
Really? Here Sotomayor compares the unborn child, who is alive during the abortion, with someone who is already dead. And the preborn baby is definitely not brain dead: science shows brain waves detectable at 5 weeks. Moreover, for over a decade now doctors have been performing surgery on infants before birth, while still in utero, and when they do so they administer pain medicine to the unborn child. Why? Because they know that the preborn child can feel pain when operated on.
One doctor responded to Justice Sotomayor’s statement: “To compare an unborn child to a brain-dead person or a corpse flouts science which tells us that at 15 weeks gestation, a baby’s organs are fully formed, her heart pumps 26 quarts of blood a day, and her lungs are already practicing drawing breath.” (Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie)
It’s important to remember: Presidents appoint Supreme Court Justices, who either vote to keep abortion legal, or vote to recognize that preborn children have a right to life.
Right now it looks like there might be a majority on the Court that will overturn Roe v. Wade. Let us pray that they do.
The sins of our nation will come back to haunt us, if they have not yet done so already.
In the Gospel today we see that John the Baptist prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ by preaching repentance from sins. Let us pray that we will be humble enough as a nation to acknowledge our sins against the dignity and sanctity of human life in the womb that have been ongoing for the past 50 years.
This is a fitting topic to consider as we approach celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. At this time a little more than 2000 years ago, the BV Mary was carrying Jesus in her womb, preparing to make her way with St. Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, about 90 miles away.
Just think about this: the All-Powerful Son of God, who had shared in the glory of the God the Father and the Holy Spirit from all eternity, became man at the Incarnation, and allowed Himself to be enclosed in the immaculate womb of His Mother, Mary for nine months before she gave birth to Him.
Why was it part of God’s plan that Jesus should come to us through Mary, by living within her for the first nine months of His human life? What purpose did God have in doing things this way?
No doubt, Jesus wanted to teach us to imitate Him by His example. As any other child living in its mother’s womb, Jesus was totally dependent on His Mother, for His human life and nourishment. What a wonder this is: that the Creator should be totally dependent upon a creature of His own making!
By living in Mary as a Babe in her womb, Jesus teaches us to have that same dependence on Mary for everything, and to entrust ourselves – our lives, our desires, our needs – totally to her. For she is truly our spiritual Mother in the order of grace, who not only foresees our needs, but protects us from harm as well.
The oldest known prayer to Mary in the Church, the Sub tuum praesidium, dating from the late 200’s if not earlier, reflects this notion: “We fly to thy patronage or holy Mother of God, despise not our prayers in our necessities, but ever deliver us from all dangers, O glorious & Blessed Virgin!”
Contemplating this great mystery of “Jesus living in Mary” also allows us to imitate the Virgin Mother. What immense joy must have overflowed in Mary’s Heart, knowing that the Eternal Word took flesh in her womb and was living within her. Her Heart was literally bursting with joy as she awaited her Son’s birth – a beautiful thought during this holy season of Advent.
During this holy season of Advent we can imitate Mary, and share in her joy by meditating on the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary, especially the first three Joyful mysteries: the Annunciation, Visitation and Birth of Our Lord.
We can also imitate the Virgin Mary when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion: for those few minutes after we receive Him, Jesus lives in us as He lived in Mary for nine months; we become, like Mary, living tabernacles of the Most High.
Let us, during this holy season of Advent, strive to imitate Jesus in His total dependence on the Blessed Virgin in all our endeavors, in everything we do.
Let us also strive to exude that same joy which Mary held in her Heart as she was preparing to make her way to the little town of Bethlehem, to give birth to the Savior of the world.

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