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Saturday, November 22, 2008

You CANNOT be Christian and Support Abortion!

This post was originally published on June 22, 2007. Given that Advent begins in a week, and given that this weekend we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, I can think of no better way to honor Him than by fighting for the life of the unborn by citing Jesus as the most perfect example of an "unplanned pregnancy." Those who profess to believe in Christ speak with forked tongues if they proclaim Christ in one moment and deny life to the unborn in the next.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."
29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34 But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"
35 And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
37 for nothing will be impossible for God."

38 Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
39 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
42 cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."


It is not possible to be a Christian and support the "right" to an abortion. It is not possible to be a Catholic Christian and support the "right" to abortion. You certainly have a choice...you are EITHER what society calls "Pro-Choice", OR you are a Christian.

If this is not clear to you, re-read the text of Luke 1 which I posted above. Especially focus on the parts in bold.

When the angel appeared to the Virgin Mary, he announced to her she would conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus. The birth of Jesus would follow the conception, because that's how it works. The angel did not announce to her that she would conceive and lay and egg...he announced that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and AT THAT MOMENT she would conceive in her womb the Christ, the Holy Redeemer.

Something very special happens to each woman at the moment of conception, the very same thing that happened to Mary when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every single human life begins in the same way; with a touch from God, a touch that infuses body and soul together, forming a complete human life in the most minute detail.

When the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Blessed Mother, the human and Divine nature of Jesus were fused together. As we know that Jesus, born of a human woman, was fully human in all ways, we also know that he was fully Divine.

Any Christian would certainly be offended at the idea that Jesus was a lump of flesh or just a conglomeration of cells until he was born. Scripture clearly spells out the fact that the children in the wombs of Mary and Elizabeth were, in fact, children, not accidents of the universe. They were not cancer, they were not impersonal "fetuses"; no, they were CHILDREN, they were God's wonderful and abundant blessings, and through the womb of Mary, the Mother of God, Jesus, both Human and Divine, emerged to redeem humanity.

He did not become Jesus from birth; he was Jesus from conception.

Christ, the Redeemer of the world, is the one who penetrated in a unique unrepeatable way into the mystery of man and entered his "heart". Rightly therefore does the Second Vatican Council teach: "The truth is that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a type of him who was to come (Rom 5:14), Christ the Lord. Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling". And the Council continues: "He who is the 'image of the invisible God' (Col 1:15), is himself the perfect man who has restored in the children of Adam that likeness to God which had been disfigured ever since the first sin. Human nature, by the very fact that is was assumed, not absorbed, in him, has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by his Incarnation, he, the son of God, in a certain way united himself with each man. He worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin"47, he, the Redeemer of man.(RH, 8)

From the very moment of his Conception, Jesus was both God and Man; as by his conception he dignified humanity even further, it cannot be denied that EACH AND EVERY HUMAN LIFE has an innate dignity, raised even even more by virtue of the Incarnation of God, the Word made Flesh who dwelt among us (John 1), showing us by EXAMPLE of his very own CONCEPTION that this is a child of God FROM THAT VERY MOMENT!

I can understand how atheists or agnostics or religions that do not believe in the Virgin Birth can argue when life begins. But I simply cannot FATHOM how those who claim to be Christian, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, can support the unmitigated and unquestioned slaughter of the unborn children of God. The reality is that the Holy Spirit overshadows all women at the time of conception in order for the soul to be infused into the moment of conception; God touches each one of us at that moment. God touches each woman especially at that moment, a blessing of life, a blessing of love, in the creation of a unique human being designed from the beginning to grow according to the will of God.

If you have the audacity to claim that abortion is an authentic "right", then at least have the integrity to announce you are no longer a Christian. To do anything else is to deny the Lord, the Redeemer who shed his blood so that you might live and have eternal life.

Should you be faced with an unexpected pregnancy, spend some time meditating on the passages of Luke, on Mary's fiat ("let it be done unto me according to your Word"), meditate on the face of the Crucified Christ, place your hand over your womb where that child grows, and consider how God has literally touched you and the life you carry within you. Imagine the face of the Christ child, the infant, and realize that just as Jesus, who loves you enough to die a horrible death for you, loves your child just as much. Imagine how the two natures of God, both Human and Divine, were joined at the moment of Jesus' conception, just as the body and soul of your unborn child were also joined in that same blessed moment.

Do any of us really want to deny life to any of the children of God? To do so is to justify the abortion of Christ Himself.


Bibliography:

"The Redeemer of Man (Redemptor hominis), Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II", Pauline Books & Media, 1979, p. 16

26 comments:

Hidden One said...

Wow - that's quite the stunning Pro-Life argument... I haven't a clue how anyone could sensibly rebut that. Glad I already was Pro-Life anyway.

Adoro said...

Hidden One ~ I think I saw some of that in an article I read somewhere, possibly by Father Pavone, and I was also struck by the absolute scriptural context.

I wish I could remember where I read the idea first, but I suppose it doesn't really matter...it's one of the things that convinced me and drove away my last shreds of "it might be okay if...".

Matthew said...

Excellent Post. May I publish this on my pro-life blog, The Dignity of Human Life? I will of course link to this original story.

Adoro said...

Oh...the Redemptor Hominis was mine...I was struck by that passage from the moment I read it. Redemptor Hominis is one of those texts that is so competely revealing one cannot help but be convicted by God's gift of Jesus Christ to the world.

Adoro said...

Seminarian Matthew ~ absolutely! Whatever will save a life!

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree with you Adoro. We become ourselves at the moment of conception.

This is a different subject, I've been thinking about this. . . so what about test tube babies and in vitro babies? Since these procedures work, are these procedures God's will also? If they are so wrong, wouldn't God cause them NOT to be successful?

Or do we work by biology and God infuses a soul when conception occurs?

I guess I shouldn't ponder these unanswerable questions, I will know when I reach the pearly gates.

Adoro said...

anon ~ That's a good question, and one that is discussed a lot.

The reality is that even test tube babies have the same inherent dignity the rest of us do; God is faithful to us, even though we are not, to him. Just look at what happens with In Vitro - did you read the article from a few weeks ago about the California journalist whose wife recieved IVF and was pregnant with 4 children? They chose, in common deceptive rhetoric, to "selectively reduce" the pregnancy, and they had to choose between the boys or the girls, because they actually knew the gender of the unborn children. And he watched the deaths of his unborn children occur at his word.

Even if conceived in a test tube, the only thing those "cells" can become is a human being.

God will not usurp our free will, for he has given it to us and will remain faithful. We choose every day to do things contrary to His will, and we suffer the consequences. The consequences of IFV are death and even more slipping morality, such that in the eyes of the world life is cheapened.

IVF does no more than remind me of Alduous Huxley's "A Brave New World" - seeking to make human reproduction something to be done in a lab, not through an act of sacrificial love and marital union.

If the soul is infused at conception within the womb, God is not going to change his way of doing things just because a bunch of humans are pretending to be Him and dabbling in things they should not. God is faithful.

We are not, and we will cntinue to suffer the consequences of our faithlessness in this regard by watching abortions become so prevalent and done in such cold blood, we are watching embryos being turned into human batteries ala "The Matrix" all for the purpose of advancement of "science", we are watching respect for life decline alarmingly.

Hitler and Stalin would be so proud of our societies.

Jennifer @ Conversion Diary said...

Adoro - thanks for this. It's refreshing to see someone boldly proclaiming the truth without watering down the message. Tell it like it is! :)

Anonymous said...

adoro:
When I was in college, not a Christian, I was influenced by the secular world--ouch, I am ashamed and cringe at my pro-choice stand: Just two cells of tissue, geeze, the pro-life nuts--trying to force their morality down our throats--this is America, we have a right to choose."

Frank Pavone says, "You can't stop abortion, until you see abortion." Now I see abortion--ouch, as soon as the two cells fuse, it is no longer the mother it is no longer the father--the child has it's own unique DNA--now a human being--worthy of love, respect, and protection.

The way to fight abortion--is to see abortion. Ohh, sigh, I was so blind, but now I see--abortion is mothers killing the most innocent where they should be the safest, in the care of their mothers.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Please pray for us--let the scales fall off the eyes.

Emily said...

Awesome. Great job. :) It's so sad to see the way other Christian denominations try to wiggle out of the abortion issue.

Cathy_of_Alex said...

Great post, Adoro. You are right on with the sentence about coming out and admitting you are not really a Christian if you support abortion.

Odysseus said...

But, Adoro, what if I make distracting remarks about the death penalty and republicans, and then put my foot down and say I am still a Christian even though I belive in abortion on demand?

Whaddya gonna do? Huh?

(The above was brought to you by lots of caffeine and little sleep. The writer is in no way responsible for his remarks.) :)

Adoro said...

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.


Rob ~ Well, if you are going to try to distract me with topics that differ, then I would suggest that you go have more coffee and sleep and post your own topics on your own blog! LOL!

Besides...I think you don't agree with abortion on demand and you are just trying to see how I'd react to such a claim. :-)

And I don't see what your problem is...I didn't get a nap today because I was cleaning my house in preparation for guests (family) to come up. So THERE!

Mairin :o) said...

What a strong, wonderful message spoken clearly and boldly. Thank you very much for this.

You may be interested in looking at an icon "heaven's view of abortion" the title link on the blog post describes the image more fully. http://childofmary.blogspot.com/2006/04/heavens-view-of-abortion.html

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post!

God bless

swissmiss said...

Adoro:
Great post. Wonderfully said. Like I commented to the similar post on Cathy of Alex's blog, AMEN. We are surrounded with so much propoganda to the contrary. Abortion is wrong. Period. End of story. Keep praying to stop this outrage.

Matthew said...

I really liked your comment on my pro-life blog to the grandmother of Sam. Thank you.

Jude McCarney said...

I believe that a fetus is not a living soul because the Bible says that the breath of life is when life begins:Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Isaiah 42:5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Ezekiel 37:5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: &10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

Acts 17:25 he giveth to all, life and breath, and all things.

Genesis 6:17 And behold I, even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Genesis 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

Psalm 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Jeremiah 10:14 ?.every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

1 Kings 17: 17 and it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was soere sore, that there was no breath left in him.
&21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. &23?..and Elijah said, see, thy son liveth.

Job 9:18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.

Adoro said...

Jude,

You've taken a whole bunch of scripture and you've taken it out of the intended context. Keep in mind that the Bible is not meant to be read by picked out verses as stand alone proof of an anti-life agenda such as yours. The reality is that God cannot contradict himself.

If you are not Christian, then you are free to believe what you want and to take any position that you care to. If you are ARE Christian, then the only thing you can do is look to Jesus, the reality of his life and death, that being life from conception, and interpret the OT quotes you've provided in light of revealed Truth in the New Testament.

The Old Testament is revealed and fulfilled in the New. You're only going to understand the words of the prophets of the OT if you consider what they mean in light of Jesus ministry and his death/resurrection. Additionally, you cannot take the verses that you've chosen as "proof" that the pro-life position is wrong. The only thing you've done, actually, is to destroy your own credibility by displaying you lack understanding of true context.

Again, if you are nto Christian, I don't really expect you to understand this or to agree. If you are Christian, look to Jesus; he didn't lie with his life and death, and the rules of life didn't change when he was born, nor have they changed since.

Anonymous said...

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:15


Well, if that doesn't spell out ProLife I don't know what does.

Anonymous said...

posted my view (against abortion) on a thread in a forum about abortion, got slammed. well, it hurts not because i am put down, but because it is true that i will never be in their situation (those who aborted their children) and i do not know how to bring my view across or to comfort, reassure them..its extremely tragic.

http://www.flowerpod.com.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=12810&pid=1529571&st=960&#entry1529571

Anonymous said...

There are many women who have undergone or are comtenplating abortion, and they are besought with regret and grief even as they stand by the view that it was better for their child to die if they could not be good parents or if their child could not be born without pain or suffering. It is very difficult to get them to understand our view. And there are so many of them out there.

Please pray, most fervently, especially on behalf of Our Mother's tears and sorrows, for all the innocent victims of abortion as well as the mothers who are going through so much, and for the misuse of the free will that God has given us. Please pray, and God bless you.

Hidden One said...

Huh. I was going to comment, and realized that I already did a long time ago... and that comment still stands.

Adoro said...

LOL...at least you know you're consistent!

Paul said...

Considering how many Catholics, or those who call themselves such, have a "pro-choice" stance, we've got a lot of work to do.

Nice post.

Adoro said...

karyn ~ I know this is years later but I see neither I nor anyone else responded to you. I'm sorry.


You bring up a good point, and all I can say is this:


People who are suicidal believe that no one would care if they weren't around, if they were never born, etc. They believe that pain and suffering are unjust, without value, and have nothing to do with life or personhood.

I was once suicidal and I wished I'd never been born, I thought no one cared, and I believed my life made no difference to any one at all.

What I have learned is that this position tends to be judged randomly and from a weird perspective. If it's a suicidal person, that person is ill and needed help and was depressed. If from a pregnant woman, it tends to mean that she is justified in killing her child and doesn't need anything other than that child's death in order to be a confidant woman.

WHAT A LIE!

We try to save the life of someone who is suicidal. We tend to slaughter the child of a woman who is in crisis.

What is often not reported is that the woman in crisis becomes the woman who aborts her child, which turns her into the suicidal person who completes an act of self-abortion.

She has a successful suicide because she never tells anyone of her agony because the world tells her she is supposed to be happy in her freedom and joy and self-actualization obtained through the act of killing her child.

But she recognizes that it is murder, feels alone because the world refuses to understand her, and she has no other way out...because, of course, she is told the Catholic Church hates and condemns her, which is untrue for what Catholicism offers is the only real life and love that exists on this planet.

And the Church, in her people and priests, offers true, permanent reconciliation and enters into the woman's pain WITH her, in forgiveness and true charity.

Forgiveness and restoration IS possible..if only the women who have been so harmed are willing to break their silence...

http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/