I recently from a friend an e-mail of an apparent exchange between Albert Einstein and an atheist professor. I make no claims to the truth of the event, but I was intrigued by the explanation of darkness and cold. I’ve often wondered if there will be darkness, shadows or even night in heaven – though I hold out hope for skiing, and skiing lessons once there (by the grace of God).
A fellow priest and me were talking this week about the efforts we make to restore the respect for life, particularly the unborn. He commented how so many folks are anti-abortion only. He pointed out how this can be charactized – fairly or not – by the use of graphic images of infants post-abortion, vilification of those who have participated in abortion and other aggressive efforts against abortion.
I pause here to point out that neither he or I mean to say that these have no place in our work of ending abortion. They sometimes are exactly what is called for.
It is not enough, however, to be just anti-abortion. Make no mistake, we must be anti-abortion. If you are a Catholic who thinks that you can be pro-abortion in any way and still in a state of grace, think again. You are on a dangerous path.
In the face of this evil, we can not settle with simply being anti-abortion. We must also be pro-life. For what is this if not simply an absence of life, a removing of the greatest good that God has given us – what Aquinas would call a privation. Just as darkness and cold are not things of themselves but absences of light and darkness, so death is an absence or privation of life.
To overcome death, then, we need life. And the only source of life is God Himself – who sent Christ – so that “(we) might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
There is no easy solution to a world where life is so often absent. But the first step is to recognize that life so often is absent. We could spend a lifetime pointing to the absences of life, both in big ways and small. There is an easier barometer. Where there is true life – always given to us from God, there is joy.
We are surrounded by life – in marriages, families, baptisms, confirmations, vocations discovered & fulfilled, and day-to-day things that give us life – shouldn’t we also be surrounded by joy? And if we are not, what are we doing about it?
So often our failure is not just that we don’t vote with our faith, speak out or rally against abortion. We need these things desperately, no doubt! But more than that, we need joyful souls who know and appreciate the life given them by God. When that day comes, both individually and as the Body of Christ, we will truly be pro-life – and evil won’t only not stand a chance; it will no longer be – because where life is present, death is not.
your brother in Christ,
Father Maurer
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Hi Father,
I absolutely agree that we are called to be pro-life, not just anti-abortion. If I may pick at one of the points you brought up, I would like to ask you to elaborate on the logical progression of assuming that someone using graphic images is only anti-abortion. I don’t understand how the former implies the latter. I realize you said that your friends comment may be fair or not and it seems very reasonable to me that aggressive actions and vilification may imply not living with a pro-life attitude or heart. I do not see the same connection with graphic images.
Thanks!
PS Do you get to pick your own anti-spam words?
Hello Nichole,
In defense of my fellow priest, he himself acknowledged that it may not always be fair to characterize people who use graphic images in this way. Neither of us mean to paint all uses of them as solely anti-abortion. But sometimes they are, and in those cases are often used as a way of expressing horror and/or anger at the evil done (good…) without compassion for those who have sinned in this way (…but not good enough).
I think its fair to say – for myself now, apart from my priest friend’s opinions – that I am not a proponent of common use of graphic images. At some point we must all be confronted with the horror of our sins, in this life or the next. But until that moment, there is so much that needs to come first before most people can look at the face of sin and not fall into despair, or simply rebel. I think we run a terrible risk of losing everything by starting here, in forcing the confrontation. I can’t say its always wrong or a bad idea, but I do think its the wrong tack most of the time. Thus the pro-life vs the anti-abortion tack.
As for anti-spam, yes, I do get to make those up! I choose elements from my favorite books, movies & television series (the Bible, Firefly & Serenity) [both a very mature PG-13], the Princess Bride, the Great Divorce and Perelandra – I’m sure I’ll add more in the future!)