"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
As I mentioned yesterday, to mark the March For Life, this week I’m going to be posting a series of articles exclusively on the subject of abortion.
Today I’d like to outlining the two main stages I pass through when discussing the subject of abortion with those who are pro-choice.
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Since JP2 is now meeting again, I will be resuming my “Sunday Lectionary” posts for the coming week’s Sunday Mass Readings. I did begin one last week but I didn’t finish it in time :-(. So, from now on I’m limiting my writing time to two hours – I do tend to get a bit carried away… 😉
Last week’s Readings focused on God’s call to us. In turn, this week’s Readings focus upon our response to Him.
In the First Reading we hear of how Jonah (eventually) responded to God’s call and then how the people of Nineveh responded to God through the message of His Prophet.
In the Gospel we hear Jesus’ message: repent and believe for the Kingdom is at hand. He calls four fishermen to come and follow him, simple men who, later when He is gone, will become great pillars in His Church.
Having before you many examples of sinners who repented and were saved, be you also earnest in confessing to the Lord, that you may receive pardon for past sins, be made worthy of the heavenly gift, and inherit the kingdom of heaven with all the saints -St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. AD 386)
Picking up from where we left off yesterday, I would like to continue my series of posts on the subject of abortion.
For many people, the fundamental question which must be answered in the abortion debate is this: when does human life begin? If the aborted child does, in fact, represent an innocent human life, then abortion must be recognized as immoral.
(Some would disagree with this last statement, but I’d suggest that such people are in the minority and I’ll address their position some other time).
So when does human life begin? Personally, I think it’s clear that life begins at conception. I think that this position can be defended both scientifically and philosophically since, from conception onward, you have a distinct, growing, human organism with its own unique DNA. However, for the sake of this post I’m going to set aside my own position…
You see, not everyone holds to my opinion (I know, who’d have thought it?!). The thing is that among those who would identify themselves as “pro-choice”, there are a vast range of opinions as to when the unborn child can be considered a living human person worthy of protection.
Who’s understanding should we accept? For example, some say that the child is only human after certain organs have formed. Some people point to the moment when the heart starts to beat. Others say the child should only be considered worthy of protection once brainwaves are discernible, and still others withhold protection for the unborn until the child is viable outside of the womb. Still more readily admit that they just don’t know…
Given this cacophony of opinions, we can establish that, among those who identify themselves as pro-choice, there is no consensus as to the moment from which the unborn child should be recognized be a human person and be deemed worthy of protection.
I think the uncertainty on the side of pro-choice advocates is a powerful argument against the legalization of abortion. If one is not sure when life begins, then it must be admitted that there is, at least the possibility, that abortion results in the death of an innocent human person and is therefore immoral.
Last month, a controversial blog post was doing the rounds on Facebook. It was written by a lady named Samantha Pugsley and was entitled “I Waited Until My Wedding Night To Lose My Virginity And I Wish I Hadn’t”. Samantha was raised in a Christian household and remained a virgin until marriage, but now regrets her decision and has since left the Christian Faith:
I was greatly troubled reading Samantha’s post. Her experience sounds horrific and her story truly tragic. I read through many of the reader comments at the bottom of the post and was dismayed to find that most of the exchanges between Christians and other readers were less-than-civil. For several days I debated internally as to whether or not I should write a reply. While I wanted to address various points raised in the article, I knew that it would be very easy for such a response to be seen as judgmental, condescending and “holier than thou”.
In the end, I decided that I should write a response. However, before you continue read my response, I would first invite you to read Samantha’s article in its entirety; it’s a sobering read.
My reply to her post is in no way a personal attack on Samantha. She is a child of God, made in His image and likeness and she is of countless worth. I did not have the same upbringing as this lady and I do not claim to have walked in her shoes. However, I have some thoughts I would like to share concerning her story.
The main reason why I decided to write a response to Samantha’s post is that I think the issues raised in her article are too important to leave unaddressed. Not only that, I feel that this young lady’s story should serve as a warning to all Christian leaders and teachers. What we teach others about sex (or fail to teach) has significant consequences. Theology is important and when someone’s formation is either poor or incomplete, the results can be simply dire.
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness – James 3:1
During his pontificate, Pope St. John Paul II gave a series of teachings which later became known as the “Theology of the Body”. It is my contention that, if Samantha had received formation in this rich theological understanding of sex and marriage, her story could have turned out very differently. I say this because I think she was badly taught and was given a theology which could be described, at best, as “anaemic”. I believe that this woefully inadequate formation set her up for the heartache which she later experienced. In this series, I hope to show the practical difference that good Catholic theology could have made to her life.
Amy Donahue (http://www.thisisamy.com)
I’ve previously written about one of my favourite Early Church Fathers, St. Polycarp and I’ve just finished preparing the account of his martyrdom that we’re going to be reading in the JP2 Group, starting next week.
Whenever we read documents from the Early Church I always work hard to try and produce the most readable translation for us to study. I do this by comparing many of the different translations and I do this in an attempt to eliminate all possible barriers to people reading, engaging with and actually enjoying these early Christian writers.
If you would like to view this document, links are provided below. The document is available in both Microsoft Word (.docx) and Adobe Reader formats (.pdf).
I’ve also recorded this document in an MP3 fjle because I personally learn best when I use audio. So…if you’re looking for something to listen to while you’re sunbathing at Pacific Beach over Memorial Day Weekend, look no further!
Martyrdom of Polycarp (DOCX | PDF | MP3)
If you would like to join us in our study, we will begin on 2nd June at St. John the Evangelist.
I mentioned earlier about Fr. Donald Calloway’s recent events in the San Diego area.
In one of his talks on Blessed Mary he mentioned a car sticker he saw which read “Wise men still find Him with His mother”. One of my friends commented a few days later that she had tried to find this sticker online, but to no avail.
Thinking myself to be something of an Internet Ninja, I went looking for it, but also came up empty. Not wanting to be beaten by the Internet, I decided isntead to make it:
I had four of these stickers made, so I now have three to give away. If you would like to win one, simply leave a comment below with the name of a favourite speaker you’ve heard recently. Three names will be randomly selected next week and I’ll email the winners.
The article Wise Men Competition first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net