Is abortion ever acceptable?

-------------------------------------------------
FROM THE 40 DAYS FOR LIFE BLOG
-------------------------------------------------

"I want to thank my mother, who did not succumb to the pressure to abort me after being raped 30 years ago," said this 40 Days for Life participant.

"Today, she chokes up with emotion whenever she tells me how special and important I am to her life! Praise God!"

I simply cannot imagine what that pressure would have been like. This is one of the so-called hard cases where
abortion is somehow deemed acceptable.

But as this woman's life shows, this is not about statistics or "difficult choices." It's about human beings.

"I am not perfect. But because I was given the chance to live, I can and do strive for holiness," she wrote.

"Thank you, pro-lifers, for recognizing AND reminding me that I am beautifully and wonderfully made in God’s image."

Abortion supporters, she said, "will have people like me think that we are monsters who must be punished for the
crime of our father.

I know what he did was wrong; but I pray for him and hope to see him in heaven as a repentant sinner."

------------------------------------------------
No. Abortion is never acceptable. Every child should be allowed to be born.

We Remember

Today, we remember that tragic, unjust ruling by the US Supreme Court 38 years ago that has lead to the killing of 50 million children and the wounding of countless women, as well as the permanent fracture of untold numbers of families who will never be what they could have been.
The destruction of innocent children should never happen in even the most ruthless societies but much less in a nation that boasts such civility and socio-economic status of which the world has never known.
What can we do to stop this atrocity of abortion?
We pray!
Pray that the light of Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life may shine upon us all, especially the hard-hearted and the apathetic. We pray that our elected representatives do everything possible to help protect women and children from the horrors of abortion.
We love!
We teach young people to truly respect and love one another as Christ taught us, and that all life is sacred and a gift from God! The true meaning of love is self-sacrifice, as Christ showed us by dying on the cross for our sins. If we all realize the great responsibility we have for each other, and the tremendous importance of marriage and bringing life into the world, we will build a society where abortion is unthinkable and unnecessary.
We give!
We use our time, talent and treasure (all of which are gifts from God, so sharing them is our duty) to help women, children and families who need our help. We can support Crisis Pregnancy Centers (which, today-thanks be to God!-outnumber abortion clinics, with our gifts so that the vulnerable have what they need!
We vote!
We must be the voice for the voiceless! We must tell our public servants what we expect and what they must do for us to help the most vulnerable. It's not the government's job to do the work, that's our job. But the Govt can help us but promoting just laws.
We remember. We pray. We love. We give. We vote. We end abortion. We build the kingdom of God!! Praised be Jesus! Now and forever!

A Biblical Look at the Human Embryo

(John the Baptist, from the womb of Elizabeth recognizes Mary's voice and leaps for joy before the Lord Jesus in Mary's womb - like the story of dancing before the Ark of the Covenant in OT)

[excerpted from a message from a sister in Christ, Barb From 40 Days for Life, Southfield]
As Christians observe Christmas, an encounter which occurred nearly 9 months prior to Jesus' birth provides a lesson applicable today. In Luke's Gospel, after telling Mary how Jesus would be conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel said, “And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’... In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?'... And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.”

To what did Elizabeth (and the fetal John) respond?

Because the journey from Nazareth to Judea takes about 5 days by foot, Elizabeth and John had responded to the one week old embryonic Jesus in the womb of Mary. Based on this passage alone, shouldn't Christians oppose abortion and embryonic-destructive medical research?

Sadly, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice provides cover for those Christians who ignore clear language from the Bible. One theologian, Dr. Paul D. Simmons, wrote this: “The passage [Luke 1:41-42] makes it clear, for instance, that it is Elizabeth who responds to God's revelation. She does the speaking, declaring the special blessedness of Mary and her child to be. The central point of the passage is theological and practical. It deals with the special role and authority of Jesus. … It is faulty biblical interpretation to generalize form (sic) this passage to the personhood of every fetus. Such an approach confused the intention and meaning of the text with a contemporary debate that is entirely foreign to the mind of the writer.”

This theologian was capable of recognizing the “child to be” when it was Jesus Christ. Yet he cannot imagine that God could use this incident to show modern people the inherent dignity of the human person from the earliest moments of his existence by revealing Himself within the first week of His Incarnation. Dr. Simmons underestimates God.

Without seeking to impose personal beliefs on non-Christians, shouldn't Christian clergy exhort their own congregations to follow God's law, which condemns the killing of the innocent? Should Christian clergy warn their congregations about Planned Parenthood, an organization which subverts Christian morality of purity and fidelity in marriage? Meanwhile, women and children go to slaughter; physical for children, spiritual for women.

If Christians refrained from involvement in abortion and did not support foundations funding human embryonic-destructive research, abortions would decline by over 75% and human embryos would still be protected from medical researchers in Michigan. Christian parents who bring their minor daughters to abortion centers to have her “child to be” slaughtered or to Planned Parenthood for contraception continue to be a grave scandal to Christianity. Other Christians remember that Jesus also was not “wanted” by His community. Bethlehem would not accommodate His nine-month pregnant Mother and “Herod and all Jerusalem with him were distressed” at news of His birth.

All Hallows Eve!

The Saints! Where would we be without them?! Our elder brothers and sisters in the Faith that are examples to us, of holiness, sacrifice, love, endurance, and fidelity! Yes, Jesus is our main and ultimate and perfect example to follow, but God knows us better than we know ourselves, and gives additional examples that can help us as unique, unrepeatable individuals be more like Christ by imitating those that have gone before us. And of course it always helps to have people praying for you! How powerful the prayers of the righteous are! See James 5:16-18. So the prayers of those in heaven can benefit us greatly! Just ask them! God's will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! St David pray for us! St Catherine of Siena pray for us! St Therese of The Little Flower pray for us!

We can't say we didn't know!

six things offend the Lord, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.
-- Proverbs 6:16-19
This is very clear. Let us pray and seek to know God's will in our life so that we may hear and heed His call. Peace be with you!

Today this reading is fulfilled in your hearing

Today's Gospel is from Luke. Wow! Jesus, in the synagogue, takes the scroll and finds the section of the book of Isaiah and proceeds to read a prophecy about Himself! Miracles and signs and wonders that He was doing were being spread like wildfire and he reads that "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me." I am he! Look no further! The people must have been amazed! Can you imagine being there? He's in his home town where he grew up and everybody knows Him, then he reads from the scroll and announces that He is the anointed one! Some people with an open heart must have felt the truth resonate in their hearts. Others, not open to the Truth must have thought he was crazy, or a braggart, or a heretic! What do we believe? What do you believe? Do you believe in Jesus? Is He the savior of the world? Many in Jesus' time were expecting the Savior to be a political figure with worldly power and might to liberate them from Roman rule and establish the kingdom on earth. We scoff at them, silly Jews! How could they not see Jesus for whom he was? Are we that much different today? Are we? Are you? Do we truly believe in Jesus? If he really is the savior, God-incarnate, and our Lord, wouldn't this make us feel differently about everything we say and do? Or do we doubt? Not overtly, but subconsciously. We still go about doing so many things that have such little importance without embracing what truly is important. We kid ourselves that "I'm not a 'bad person', I'm not a murderer or thief or rapist" or whatever. It seems we can't believe that Jesus is really who he says He is - how could he be? Yeah, OK, God is great and He created us and the universe and ultimately we want to be with Him in heaven, but then again everybody does, and every body's going to heaven anyway, well except for Hitler and Manson, and Bin Laden and your 4th grade homeroom teacher who was just plain MEAN! Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness! If we want to go to heaven then we need to live like that and be in communion with heaven. Jesus gives us His body and blood! "Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, you have no life in you." Do we believe this? OR do we just gloss over this verse - and the SIX others just like it! He says we must eat his flesh SEVEN times in Jn 6! How can we ignore that? Many of his followers found what He was saying too "hard" and stopped following Him (in Jn 6:66 appropriately enough) and He asked His apostles if they were going to leave Him too. He asks us the same thing. Many have left His flock over doctrine discrepancies. Why?! What could be more important that following Jesus as He commanded us that we would give up His gift of Himself to us?! Why?! Pray about this! Think about this! Ask God to speak to your heart. Where do you want me to go Lord?

Epiphany 2010

The celebration of the magi coming to adore the new born king of the Jews is a wonderful commemoration in the Church! In the Western rite, it's nowadays held on the 1st Sunday after the new year. In the Eastern Rites and of course in the Orthodox churches it's held on the Traditional 12th day of Christmas, Jan 6. Epiphany means an appearance or showing. The magi, who are also called astronomers, astrologers, wise men, and kings are from "the East" and are not of Jewish descent. They are gentiles. Why is this significant? The birth of the Christ-child was prophesied many times in holy scripture, in the Old Testament writings of the prophets. When King Herod asked his scribes where the king of the Jews would be born, they knew. In the town of Bethlehem of Judea he was told. But these non-Jews would not necessarily take a Hebrew prophet's word for it. They came to know about the birth through other means and they were guided by a natural phenomenon. A star, something they did know about guided them.
So God foretold the birth of His Son in spiritual ways through scripture and natural ways through the stars. God knows His audience and uses the appropriate media to inform them, guide them, for they are all His children. This was because even though Jesus was indeed to be the King of the Jews, He was also, and IS also, the King of all peoples and of all creation! The gentiles coming to see the newborn king from the beginning, is acknowledging this fact: "that the gentiles are co-heirs; members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." Eph 3:6 This is HUGE! and generally not understood for many years even after Christ's passion, death, resurrection and ascension. It took awhile for it to sink in, and thanks to the continual guidance by our promised advocate, the Holy Spirit, who "will reveal all truth" we have come to know this is true!
Heard a homily on Christmas that gives a new perspective on these recent celebrations. God became Incarnate, i.e. took on flesh, became man. Why did he come as a helpless little child? Some have said, and not wrongly, to show humility which is an example for us. Who is more vulnerable and dependent than a newborn child after all? That's how we should be with God, because humility is really about reality: we are completely dependent on and all-powerful, all-loving, and thankfully, all-merciful God! Yet, what is it about babies that makes everyone no matter who they are, stop and pay attention? Have a mother or father bring an infant into the room and every head turns to see the child. And we are changed by this child, like it or not. Mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors everyone whose lives this new born baby touches is affected. God knew this. God knows how we are. That's what Jesus does to us. He affects us. That's why God became man as a child. He's affected all of history more significantly than other event or person. Praised be Jesus! Now and forever!