That there be no Divisions among you - We are Pro-life!
Homily preached Sunday, January 22, 2023
by Monsignor Michael Deering
Throughout December I received many beautiful Christmas cards from you ...
my Parishioners.
Thank you so much for the Joy that I felt in receiving them.
I hope you experienced Joy in the cards you received ... including ours from H.S.
The beautiful images and the touching messages in Christmas cards ...
have a way of warming the heart with thoughts of how special we are to God ...
that He would come to us in human flesh so as to take away ...
what was separating us from Him ... which was sin and death.
One of the Christmas cards that did an especially wonderful job of proclaiming this Good News ... was the one I received from the Sisters of Life ...
a relatively new Religious order of Sisters up in New York.
You may remember the powerful presentation that Sr. Elizabeth gave at the Eucharistic Conference that the Diocese of Birmingham held back in June 2019.
The Religious Order, the Sisters of Life, are devoted to helping women with unexpected pregnancies receive the material and spiritual support they need
to carry their baby to term and beyond.
The Christmas Card they sent me is a 3-fold card full of pictures front and back.
There are 4 Pictures of Jesus: of His Pre-born Body inside Mary
of his New Born Body in the Manger
of His Crucified Body on the Cross
of His Glorified Body risen from the Tomb
The Picture on the front of the card is that of Blessed Mother Mary and the words:
“In the womb of Mary, God of Heaven and Earth enters Human History.”
That one sentence says a lot.
It says ... the God of Heaven and Earth ... entered Human History ... How?
“In the womb of Mary” How?
In the womb of Mary!
Not through the womb of Mary ... but in the womb of Mary!
Yes, the God Man, Jesus, was with us ... in Human History ...
in our world of space and time ... the moment
the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary ... and she conceived Him in her womb!
So, when did Jesus enter Human History?
When He took his first breath of air that night in the Manger in Bethlehem?
No, He was already here ...He was here but not visible ...He was here inside Mary
Jesus entered Human History at the first moment of His conception!
So, Jesus was both fully God and fully man ... “In the womb of Mary”.
He didn’t become God and man when He came out of Mary’s womb.
He was already God and man throughout his 9 month stay in Mary’s womb.
And that same understanding applies to the way every person enters Human History
...
We enter Human History at the first moment of our conception ... and then
we become visible... at birth.
The Nativity that we just celebrated 4 weeks ago, was the day when
Mary & Joseph and the shepherds and the Wise Men and the world ...
could actually see the one who was already here ...
and had been developing inside His Mother, Mary.
The picture on the 2nd page of the Christmas Card shows
the tiny feet of a developing baby ... with the words:
“God comes Silently”
“Jesus, the King of the Universe, began as a single cell
and silently grew nine months in his mother’s womb.”
Yes, Jesus was here ... really here ... fully God and fully man ... for 9 months ... before He was visible.
In the same way ... each and every one of us... was here ... really here ... for 9 mos
.... before we became visible.
It’s this truth that should move every person to respect and treasure the gift of Human Life that is hidden inside the womb of every expectant Mother.
Yes, this truth should move people to respect the lives of the pre-born ...
but sadly, there are many people ... who don’t ...
either by terminating the life of the baby inside them by pill or surgical abortion
or by endorsing laws that promote or permit others to abort their babies.
Today, January 22nd, is the 50th Anniversary of that sad day back in 1973, when the Supreme Court of our country gave permission
for pregnant women to abort their babies for any reason
throughout the full 9 months of their pregnancy!
and since that date some 60 Million babies have been killed before they were born!
This big number applies just to recorded surgical abortions ...
and it does not include data from our large western State of California ...
and it does not include abortions done by a pill in the woman’s bathroom.
Thank goodness for people who know the truth about when human Life begins ...
for many of them have been avalanching Heaven with prayers for God’s help ...
and making visible stands outside of Abortion Mills ...
and have achieved some level of success in turning the hearts of people
away from the Lie of Abortion ... to the Truth of Life.
Thankfully, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of our Country
withdrew permission
for pregnant women to abort their babies!
Thanks be to God!
But sadly, there’s still work to be done to bring an end to this evil.
And so Friday, many people joined in the Annual March for Life in Washington DC. to make a statement to our Leaders that
Abortion is wrong!
And to remind them that ...
The Supreme Court in Heaven has never changed their opinion!
The Supreme Court made up of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
still declare abortion to be a grave offense against the moral law of God!
Yes, the Ten Commandments of God still stand ... including
the 5th Commandment.
“You shall not kill.”
Pro-abortion people say ending abortion is taking away a woman’s right.
No ... no one has the right to kill!
Our own Fr. Victor Salomon and many others from our schools and churches in Alabama participated in Friday’s March for Life.
Please continue your prayers.
At the end of Mass today, we’ll pray a special prayer together ...
“A Prayer for Life.”
So let’s pray that everyone comes to know the truth.
This was St. Paul’s hope and prayer in our 2nd reading today as he writes:
“I urge you brothers and sisters, in the name of Jesus Christ,
that there be no divisions among you,
but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”
There is only one Truth
Jesus is the Truth
He is Life and Love.
And He calls all of us to live lives of Life and Love.
Doing so will build up His Kingdom here on Earth
and merit us a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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