By Judie Brown
When we hear the hymn “Christ Hath a Garden,” we feel thankful that we are planted in His grace. While this is a particularly remarkable blessing, it is also an enormous responsibility. As His children, His messengers, and His voice in the wilderness, we are obliged to proclaim Him amid burgeoning evil.
We see signs everywhere that people are happily swimming in a sea of error, never realizing the moral contradictions carrying them away.
Recently, scientists have allegedly learned how to turn sperm production on and off. We have known for some time that there are studies to determine whether a male contraceptive can be produced, but this breakthrough has ominous overtones. Scientists seeking “nonhormonal contraceptive targets” in men are thinking that such treatments would somehow even the playing field between the two sexes. But in the quest to modify nature we see the continuing effort to alter human reproduction in unnatural ways that will certainly result in more human suffering as time goes on.
Saint John Paul II once taught, “The moment has come for every parish and every structure of consultation and assistance to the family and to the defense of life to have personnel available who can teach married couples how to use the natural methods.” His message of nearly 30 years ago is more pertinent today than ever before.
We are living in an age of skewed thinking that runs the gamut from sexual manipulation to abhorrence for the slightest inkling of respect for tradition rooted in faith.
To underscore that point, imagine the truncated thinking that affected a Massachusetts judge who banned statues of Saint Florian and Saint Michael from a public building. A Catholic World Report article states:
The judge expressed fear that the two passive, minimally religious statues serving as symbols of support for first responders who voluntarily risk their lives for others, rather than as devotional in nature, might, without evidence, motivate police officials to neglect their duties. It is unfortunate that the judge apparently thought so little of the police that, absent any justification, he questioned their integrity and commitment to their duties because of the possible presence of the statues.
How is it that babies are wantonly killed in the same state that is now debating this question: “Do the statues represent religious iconography that elevates one sect over another—or are these widely held symbols of inspiration for police officers and firefighters that transcend any particular religion?”
If this case were not so absurd, it might be humorous. But in a state where abortion is freely accessible to anyone because of emergency amendments enacted by the state legislature, we must wonder where political priorities reside.
Lastly, we would be remiss if we did not revisit the question of using the United States mail to deliver abortion pills. One headline underscores this societal problem: “Legal Whiplash Over Abortion Pill Undermines Care Say Providers in US.” The reporter suggests that “the return of US abortion policy to the Supreme Court has triggered confusion around the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, legal whiplash that providers and major medical bodies say undermines care.” Now that the Supreme Court has allowed the mailing of the abortion pill to continue, pro-life Americans wonder what happened to justice for all in this nation.
Thus, we must take a step back and look at the landscape from the perspective of people who respect the sanctity of life. It is from this vantage point that we ask a legitimate question: Have we become a people so removed from the God who created each of us that some, if not most, would prefer to haggle over stone statues and the manipulation of human sperm than to stand up for the dignity of the human person? For crying out loud, enough is enough!
When the Vatican issued its letter on the dignity of the human person in 2008, it stated:
By becoming one of us, the Son makes it possible for us to become “sons of God,” “sharers in the divine nature.” . . . “The different ways in which God, acting in history, cares for the world and for mankind are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they support each other and intersect. They have their origin and goal in the eternal, wise and loving counsel whereby God predestines men and women ‘to be conformed to the image of his Son.’”
Hello, God! Thank You for the gift of life. Please strengthen us in our resolve to insist on respect, without compromise, for every one of Your children, born and preborn.