Blog # 190 Abortion

Blog # 190 Abortion Luke's Gospel begins the story of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus' home town . When Jesus stood up to do the reading the book of Isaiah was handed Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me, He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners. With the eyes of all in the synagogue fixed on Him Jesus said: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And ever since, it is today wherever Jesus is recognized among us and is known and loved and followed as God''s messenger and fulfillment of God's plan and desire for all people He will ever create. The passage from Isaiah would very well fit into any political platform statement in the US today. Glad tidings to the poor...liberty to captives... release to prisoners... a time of blessing. The words cited by Jesus would readily be accepted by all. Their meaning and application is a source of dispute. Whatever it was Jesus desired to convey by this experience of His in the synagogue of Nazareth was not for Him and should not be for us ambiguous or uncertain. Today has been designated as Pro-Life Sunday. This afternoon I plan to stand by the curb on Walton Way Extension over close to one of the abortion clinics here in Augusta with a good number of others with signs with varying messages proclaiming our stand in favor of faith and trust in God on the side of life over death for all people. Some people will drive by and give us the high sign of approval. Some will give us the thumbs down. How much better it would be if we could sit down together and speak to one another with respect and reverence in hope to come to a common understanding of what it means to be alive, where life came from, where it is going what it is worth, and why. Abortion exists as a business. Someone could be involved in it for the sake of the money that is available there. Others however may be sincere in their opinion in favor of abortion in the light of their particular circumstances. Someone once hoped to convince me the very words Jesus searched for in the synagogue in Nazareth could be interpreted and applied in favor of abortion. The argument would go this way: Glad tidings for pregnant girls and women; freedom or release from fear of motherhood and the responsibilities that go with it, freedom from guilt and crime. I am personally totally opposed to abortion. The basic and personally compelling reason for my conviction is the fact I believe in the Catholic Church and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church as the Body of Christ speaking officially in the name and with the authority of Jesus . This may sound naive simplistic or an intellectually unworthy way of going about it. For me this is not so. I must do as much as I can to understand the teaching of the Church and to verify it in my own experience and thought. I don't use the word 'blind' obedience but rather total and supernatural. That word is a stranger to many today, but I know it well and it is a friend to me and absolutely necessary if we are to know and love God as Jesus made it possible for us to do. Aside from my faith in the Church, the usual arguments put forth in opposition to abortion are impressive and have great merit. I use them in addition to my main argument. However they are not the argument upon which I have based my conviction. I could not say, for example, it is altogether evil merely because it is the killing of innocent life. No doubt there were some innocent babies killed in the recent earthquake in Japan. Who other than God is responsible for this? If such were evil in itself God could not be held responsible for it. Yet no one but God had control over the earthquake. The ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE is that God has not only contol over life, but authority over it. We have control in the sense that we can injure or destroy it, but we do not have authority to do so. That is where the sin of murder and abortion comes in. It is against the law of God though for the time being it is not against the law of our United States. May more and more of our fellow Americans begin to see and experience the truth and goodness of the glad tidings, liberty sight, release, and favor of the Lord Jesus claimed for Himself in the synagogue of Nazareth and invited all who believe in Him to bring unto our own lives in His Name. Abortion would then be recognized as sin, for such it is. If anyone has any comments on my thinking here I would appreciate having them. Thank you!