What a week it has been for LIFE. Clearly the forces for evil are also working just as hard to destroy the sanctity of life and drag down the hopes of all of us who fight for it, but God is always stronger. I have no reason to doubt.
Yesterday the Church celebrated the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. Paul started out his life as an anti-Christian. In fact, he was with his army on the road to Damascus, preparing to capture more Christians, when he had his conversion. He was knocked to the ground and Jesus said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?—I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4,5)
St. Paul had a complete change of heart and was now “one of them” whom he previously hated. He had the humility to set aside his pride and not only admit that he was wrong, but to spend the rest of his life preaching the Good News. Many great books from the New Testament come from the converted heart of St. Paul himself.
Yesterday was also a significant day for our country because it is the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. Over half a million people were in the heart of our nation, marching as witnesses to the dignity of every human person, and remembering “that [we] are endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Our first right is the right to life. Without the right to life, we have no other rights, because without life we are nothing. It’s one of the legs that has held up this great country for hundreds of years, and without it, it is obvious that we are falling.
We must pray earnestly for the conversion of hearts, as St. Paul experienced. Jesus’ words ring loud and clear. “Saul, why are you persecuting me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Jesus also said, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) Abortion is the direct persecution of the least of all of us. Who else among all of us humans is the smallest, most vulnerable, most helpless, and most innocent? Are not our children? And not just the children, but the smallest of all children—the babies, the unborn.
St. Paul tells us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). We can’t be overcome by the daunting numbers of abortions in the last 40 years, or the fact that the media refuses to accurately portray our side of the story, or the fact that we may know many pro-abortion people ourselves. It all seems so daunting, but I’m sure Goliath looked daunting to David, as well. St. Paul also tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) God is for life. The Holy Spirit is the Giver of life. God is the Fountain of all life and with Him we can have Eternal Life.
We may have just seen the inauguration for another term of the most pro-abortion president in our nation's history, but in the same week, we had our largest March for Life ever. We also remembered the 40th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade this week, that legalized infanticide in this country. But 40 is a powerful number. It is in the Bible, a lot. The pro-life movement is growing stronger. The Pope even joined in our prayers and solidarity for life when he tweeted: "I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life." I see God's Hands all over this. I have no reason to doubt. I have no reason to lose hope. No way.
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