Every time period of history has had its challenges. It is easy to glorify the “good old days” and to consider mostly the problems of the present time, yet God has chosen for us to live now and he calls us to bless the good and fight the evil found in our present time.
One of the greatest evils faced by our generation surfaces to the public sphere every year in January with the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade which in 1973 legalized abortion in the United States. It falls on us who live now to rise up to the challenge presented by this legal decision. Isaiah’s words where he longs for the rise of Jerusalem in the midst of trouble can be made our own today: “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.”
The Church will not be silent or quiet until victory shines like a burning torch. We have hope because Jesus Christ has already won the victory; it is our duty to fight the battle knowing that in the end victory is assured. This week tens of thousands gathered in Washington DC at the March for Life to make a public pro-life statement which challenges the legalization of abortion in our land.
Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, former archbishop of Chicago, questioned that if the value of a human life is not upheld, how can any other human value or right be upheld? There is no earthly value more fundamental than human life itself, therefore, without human life being defended, we cannot defend any other human values. Bernadin also wrote, “the more one reverences human life at all stages, the more one becomes committed to preserving the life of the unborn, for this is human life at its earliest and most vulnerable stage.”
All actions and policies that violate human life must be opposed. This is not a political agenda or partisan activism, but rather standing up for the dignity of life that must be respected and upheld at all times.
God never ceases to call us to repentance, so during these days we can as individuals and especially as a nation, repent from the dark deeds that happen every day throughout our country by offering our prayers and sacrifices as expiation for them. In repentance we find forgiveness, in forgiveness we find hope, and in hope we find peace. We must pray that those in authority will hear the call to repentance and change the laws of our country. We cannot underestimate our prayers and must never lose hope. Christ is already victorious!
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