“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” ~ St. Teresa of Calcutta
For forty-nine years, millions of children have lost their lives to the act of abortion that was legalized on January 22, 1973 in Roe v Wade. In a subsequent case, abortion throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy was legalized. Those decisions were made in a culture of death and they continue to exist because we have so immersed ourselves in that same culture of death.
Evidence for that is all around us. We have legalized euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide in many parts of the world. We engage in capital punishment. We engage in wars and genocide. We leave people impoverished, often to the point of starving to death. This, and more, is done because we have allowed and even encouraged death to be a part of our lives. And yet, we wonder why we live in such a violent society.
When we allow acts of aggression and death, we cannot expect to live in a pleasant world. Our world is so steeped in sin that it grasps, more and more, for other ways to sin, other ways to wander further from our God.
If we want to live in a peaceful world, it means that we have to radically change our lives and become agents of peace. Peace is not something that will be foisted upon us. It is something that can only come about if we make changes in our lives and in our world in order to allow peace to take root and flourish.
When it comes to life, we cannot pick and choose. All life is sacred and must be cherished and protected. If we allow any part of life to be exempted, we destroy the balance of all life among us. Violence to any group of people — the unborn, the elderly, the terminally ill, the handicapped — will only cause violence to even more people.
Love, on the other hand, can effect great change in our world. If we embrace love rather than violence, we will be able to change not only our own lives but the lives of all around us. Be agents for change this day. Love one another. Forgive one another. Help those in need. Protect life at all its stages. Then, we will prove ourselves to be followers of the Lord.
FAITH ACTION: Do not sit in judgment upon others. Rather, let your love for them help them to realize the need to change.