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Christ gives to many women the greatest gift they could receive from Him (apart from the gift of salvation), the gift of a child. But when a woman refuses the gift of life and asks for her unborn baby to be destroyed within her, it is, in Christ's sight, as if she is not just refusing the gift but also jumping up and down on it, determined to ruin it, whilst Christ looks on.
If we could see into the womb of a pregnant woman, as if through a window, we would see a tiny infant, given life by God, and meant to receive love and education by its parents, in preparation for a good life on earth, and the eventual gift of Heaven. How blessed are those children who are welcomed as the fruit of their parent's union, as God intends.
There are people who search vast areas of Europe to discover the massive graves of the war-dead, to bring evil-doers to justice; yet a similar evil continues even today, as hundreds of thousands of babies are torn from the womb by doctors, at the request of the mothers, as nurses assist. It's as though, today, there are new 'war-dead': infants slaughtered in the war against life.
We are mistaken if we think that ours is a civilised age. There was a temple dedicated to pagan gods, near Christ's home town. Living creatures - even human beings - were thrown to their deaths, at the back of it, to persuade the gods to grant some favour. In our days, slaughter continues, though mostly hidden away. For the good fortune or convenience of many today, lives are sacrificed through abortion, or people are quietly killed if deemed sick, elderly and useless, or the chronic sick are helped to commit suicide.
Modern countries call themselves civilized. But they differ from those ancient cultures who offered human sacrifice only in that people today usually try to hide what they do. Unborn babies are routinely killed, supposedly to bring happiness to the mothers, and some elderly or sick persons are killed, to make life easier for other people: killed in modern hospitals, quietly, by professionals who defy God and ruin their own souls.
It can sometimes seem as if the small number of Parliamentarians who want to do God's Will in opposing laws which permit abortion, and the killing of the sick or the elderly, cannot possibly succeed. Yet Christians do not work for good all alone. Just as an army of Angels accompanied the brave men who once crossed the Channel to defeat an evil regime, so armies of angels and Saints are ready to help any 'child of God' who calls for their aid and has confidence in their communion with him, 'in Christ'.
Europe is endangered by the immoral laws enacted there. Those who campaign for, or enact, or support immoral laws are as if digging a pit for the citizens of their countries. How can countries thrive, or set a good example, if they kill millions of their own number by abortion, and by legalising suicide, and by the killing of the sick and elderly by doctors, who are trained to heal?
In helping a pregnant woman, we might save a baby's life. Christ takes tremendous delight in the efforts we make to oppose abortion, and so save innocent lives, whether by intercession for all involved, and for the mothers, fathers and babies - and by campaigning with charity, to change the minds of politicians and others who support abortion by words, finance, and publicity.
Carelessness can be the first step on a path that leads to terrible results. Carelessness about life leads to the deaths of innocent babies by abortion. Carelessness about our neighbour's welfare leads to silence when they are harmed by an evil regime. Carelessness in catechesis can lead to gross irreverence towards Christ our God and Saviour, and to uncharity towards the neighbour who prays - and even to carelessness about the moral law, and about sin and death.
Christ sees dark clouds of evil across much of the globe, clouds which hide the many cruelties and evils practiced against people of other races, religions, or another gender: all sorts of enslavement and torture, by people who want to retain their power. Black clouds over western Europe represent the evils occurring in abortion clinics.
We are right to be concerned, as Catholics, about the teachings and influence of many non-Catholic Christians, especially of those who unfortunately teach that contraception and even abortion is not wrong. There are children playing today who would not have been born, had their parents not been faithful Catholics who treasure God's gift of life.
When Christ was in torment, hanging on the Cross, He suffered mental and spiritual torment too, from the knowledge of all the people who would ignore His message, and would refuse to repent: especially those who would request or carry out abortions. The sight of hundreds of dead babies grieved His tender heart.
Christ saw dreadful sights as He suffered on the Cross. He saw the aborted babies whose lives would be cruelly ended; but even worse for Him was the sight of many 'dead' souls: diseased souls in mortal sin, souls now made foul and repulsive through their own thoughts and actions; so Christ's torment was spiritual and mental, as well as physical, in His Passion.
When a politician, by his votes to promote or increase abortion provision, walks further and further away from life in God - as if along a long corridor - and avoids every alternative route, he will eventually find himself in a place from which every new route leads to the Abyss. He will have entered a place from which only damnation awaits him, unless he repents before he dies.
No matter how elevated his position, a politician who uses his office to promote abortion or to increase abortion provision does something abominable in God's sight. Those who are chosen to govern should promote what is just and right, not the killing of defenseless human beings whose presence is deemed inconvenient.
The Lord wants everyone to realise that He is the Source of life. His gift of life is a blessed thing. Every child arises from the Heart of God, no matter how strong or weak the child, how grateful the parents or neglectful, or whatever the circumstances. Every child is precious in God's sight. He gave each one life, and invites human beings to care for one another, with love, but especially the weak and defenceless.
People give joy to Christ by their gratitude for the gift of life. If the whole world were to show such delight at the birth of children, how much happier a place it would be! And how terrible for Christ, to see His gift of life despised and discarded.
Just as God has gifts for the Church, such as the Holy Eucharist, for His friends, so he has gifts for the whole world, the greatest of which - given even to those who ignore or hate God - is the gift of life. But when people reject life, and destroy innocent babies in the womb in the horror of abortion, they reject God the Father, whether or not they realise it.
People in mortal sin are being swept towards damnation as if in the waters of a great river that tumbles towards a large hole in the ground. The plight of many of them is due to abortion or pornography; but whoever calls out to God, 'I am sorry, Lord', can be rescued from her sinful state and restored to a life of grace and obedience.
People who live in mortal sin can be seen as immersed in a great river of sin which is sweeping them along, towards a great pit, where the waters fall underground. These people will be lost forever, unless they repent before they die. The Lord is especially aware of the horror, in our age, of the grave sins of abortion and pornography.
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