Abortion - how has it come to this?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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The way it once was and the way it is now

I recall being in grade school when, during Geography class, we learned that during the Greek Empire unwanted newborn babies were left out in the wilderness for the wild animals to take and eat them. My young spirit was terrified and shocked. That was in the 1950's.

It's all in the numbers

Since only 1980 worldwide there have been a reported 1.5 billion - that's 1,537,040,242 abortions - and counting... with over 17,244,307 this year alone so far.... Check the number of abortions for yourself at this link.

How has it come to this? It is estimated that had the world population continued to increase as it was in 1970, the world population today would be around 14 billion, or roughly twice what it is today at 7,708,602,806 and counting. The world population was estimated at 3,706,618,163 in 1970 which means that we have increased since then by around 4,001,984,643 people.

Let's look more closely at these big numbers. From an estimated 14 billion we could be today, based on the population of the world in 1970, and given that we are now 7,708,602,806 and counting, the difference - the number of people who have not come into our world - can be estimated at 6,291,397,194 people. If we subtract the reported number of abortions - 1,537,040,242 abortions - and counting, the difference in the reduction of births comes to 4,754,356,952 births that have not taken place.

1970 world population      3,706,618,163
2019 world population      7,708,602,806 
Growth                              4,001,984,643
2019 projection from 1970         14,000,000,000
2019 world population                 7,708,602,806 
Difference from today actual       6,291,397,194 people
Actual Growth since 1970           4,001,984,643
Projected growth since 1970     10,293,381,837

So, from 3.7 billion in 1970 we could have increased by 10.2 billion to 14 billion but only increased by 4 billion to 7.7 billion. Our increased 4 billion taken together with the projected difference of 6.2 billion souls, of these projected 10.2 billion new people there might have been today, 4 billion have actually been born, 1.5 have been reported killed by abortion; while another 4.7 billion have been avoided through some form of family planning. 

Taking into account all of these figures, that means that, simply by better managing their fertility, couples have reduced the number of their births. However, there have undoubtedly been more abortions than have been reported, simply due to the social taboos associated with having an abortion as well as the constellation of emotions women experience after having had an abortion or even in anticipation of having an abortion: regret, guilt, loss, grief, shame.... It may very well be, then, that since 1970 there have perhaps been as many as 2 to 3 billion abortions. If that is so, then the figures would look more like this.

1970 world population      3,706,618,163
Live births since 1970       4,001,984,643
Estimated abortions         2,500,000,000              Reported abortions          1,537,040,242
Reduction by planning      3,791,397,194                Reduction by planning     4,754,356,952

That means that, best case scenario, since 1970 for every 8 live births there have been 3 abortions and another 9 conceptions have been avoided, or, worst case scenario, for every 8 live births there may have been 5 abortions and another 7 conceptions would have been avoided.

However, this does not take into account the effects of employing contraceptive devices and drugs, some of which prevent fertilized ova from nesting or developing and which, in effect, are an early form of abortion. Given the aggressive marketing strategies of the network formed by big pharma multinationals and the widespread use worldwide of contraceptives on the one hand, and on the other hand, the pro abortion lobby groups; it is likely that of the total number of avoided live births - around 6.3 billion - probably less than 1 billion pregnancies may have been avoided by responsible parenting.

Estimated live births avoided since 1970                                                   6,291,397,194 people

Here is how this number breaks down:

Reported abortions                                                                                          1,537,040,242
Estimated unreported abortions                                                                      1,000,000,000
Estimated embryos destroyed by contraceptive interference                         3,000,000,000
Estimated conceptions avoided by responsible parenting                                 754,356,952

So, how did we come to this?

We may no longer appear to be so barbaric as to leave, as the Greeks once did, our unwanted newborns out in the wilderness for wild animals to devour, but we are nowhere near being more enlightened. Our barbarism has simply acquired more sophisticated methods. 

As a modern society, we promote the widespread use of contraceptive devices and drugs - thereby profiting from those sales - and simultaneously encourage irresponsible sexual experimentation and expression without any serious promotion of genuine love in action, faithful relationships, openness to life, or trust in God. When unwanted pregnancies inevitably occur, we manipulate troubled pregnant women - often young and poor - into thinking that abortion is their desired solution, by concealing from them what an abortion actually does or what its effects will actually be.

A typical abortion procedure employs a powerful suction device that literally shreds the fetus into bloody pieces - modern imaging shows the fetus trying to escape the threat but failing - when the device doesn't cause damage to the woman's internal organs. There are regularly unreported deaths but they remain invisible due to the shame experienced by all those involved and the conspiracy of silence around the abortion industry. Check out the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion" Directed by David K. Kyle and narrated by Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. 

Men and women can obtain help as they try to deal with an unexpected pregnancy at one of the following sites. Campaign Life Coalition is unashamedly an advocate for life and you can be certain that they will help you explore all your options, knowing as they do through the accumulated experience of women especially, but also of men, that abortion is a decision and an act with grave consequences and that, once done, you cannot take back or undue; no matter how much you may regret it. There are also services across Canada that help you discover the intense need for adoption by infertile couples distressed in their inability to have children. 

Contrary to popular impressions, there is real help out there

Pregnancy Support Centers - hosted by Campaign Life Coalition in Canada
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/pregnancy-help

Canada Adopts - Canada's adoption meeting place
http://www.canadaadopts.com/adopting-in-canada/crisis-pregnancy-centres-canada/

What has happened to us, to society?

We have allowed ourselves to be victimized by a worldwide program of disinformation

There are many more sites on the Internet, even in Canada, which give the impression they offer information and help in exploring options, but since they are open and committed to abortion as a viable solution, we do not recommend them. There has been, since 1970 worldwide, a very powerful lobby - backed by untold millions if not billions of dollars - that has effectively changed the culture around and understanding of abortion.

The actual horror of shredding a baby in the womb to bloody pieces has been covered up in a whole constellation of euphemisms designed to be attractive in appealing to our natural human inclination to favor our freedom. So such words are used to promote abortion as: product of conception, blob of tissue, choice, women's rights, reducing the embryo to simply a part of a woman's body, safe, problem free, clinical, sterile, confidential, no one has to know, and so on.

Don't take my word for it... check it out yourself with the many testimonies published in the film "UNPLANNED", which is a dramatized documentary of real people and historic situations.

WHAT SHE SAWCHANGED EVERYTHING

product of conception - yes, a pregnancy is the product or effect of conception, but it is also a human life. Once conception takes place, human experience assures us that a human being will result as inevitably as the sun rises each day. 

blob of tissue - There have been such remarkable advances in Biological Science that there is no doubt now that from the very first moment of conception - before that first fertilized cell even divides - that it is only one thing, one possibility, a human being. It contains everything it needs to grow and develop and become a fully grown baby ready to be born into this world. All it needs is a welcome nest and all the love that a mother and father can give.

choice - it is a choice to have an abortion, but it is also the murder of a defenseless human being most worthy of our welcome and protection.

women's rights - It is true that far too long women have been dominated and ill used by men and that they enjoy the full dignity of their humanity just as much as men do. We applaud the developments in our world that have brought women in most nations to enjoy more fully the rights and duties that come from their human dignity. 

part of her own body - While an embryo is "housed" within the hosting environment of a woman's uterus - which is designed to "nest" that dependent being until maturation and birth - the fetus is not part of her body because it is autonomous. The woman does not need the fetus in order to live, and the only thing that the fetus needs from its mother is nutrients. The fetus has its own independent systems which develop over time: heart and circulatory system, respiration, assimilation and digestion, and so on. The womb transfers nutrients to the embryo and in turn it eliminates waste through its umbilical cord to the mother's elimination system. It is a perfect design and a wonder of engineering. Even DNA tests reveal that the embryo is not identical to the mother but an independent and autonomous being existing in its own right and for its own sake. The fact that it is innocent and defenseless does not mean that it has no human dignity or rights.

safe - Given what an abortion actually entails - sucking an embryo out and shredding it in a bloody and violent process - no abortion is truly safe even for the mother, and certainly not for the baby, because it always results in the baby's death, a most horrible and violent death. 

problem free - Women who have problems with their abortion generally do not report it, either because they died as a result of the procedure, or because of the shame they experienced. Families are likewise in no position to boast about the fact that their wife, or daughter, or sister, or girlfriend was hurt or killed by the procedure. The abortion industry has shown itself to be very capable at hiding accidents and damages caused to women during an abortion procedure. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion". This industry is "self interested" in its claims that abortion is safe, because if the truth were fully known, women would think long and hard before taking such a risk with their own health and life, not to mention their baby, however unwanted it may be.

clinical, sterile - Since abortion was taken off the criminal code and legalized, it is true that abortions are often performed by medical doctors. The instruments used may or may not actually be sterilized after each use, but this takes 20 minutes to heat them up and longer to cool them down; so in practice, this step is often skipped (Cf. "Blood Money"). When the term "clinical" is employed in association with abortion procedures, it evokes the "safe" and "scientific" environment of a hospital, but unlike any hospital, abortion procedures are not designed to improve the health of either the baby or the mother. At the very least, the procedure will execute the baby in a very violent way. Even if there is no real damage to the woman's body, in her awareness of herself, she witnesses the violent destruction of what had been living within her. At the very least, she will be wounded in her self identity as a female human being capable of conceiving and bearing life. Many women after an abortion have trouble in the future with conceiving a second time. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion".

confidential - All those who favor and promote abortion as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy do so in denial of the violent reality which actually takes place in the course of an abortion, even one that is done in a "clinical" and "sterile" setting. Part of the strategy to persuade a woman to go through with the abortion is the promise that the procedure will remain "confidential", that is, that "no one needs to know about it". The only problem with this lie is that the woman herself will know. She will feel that little life sucked out of her, and the procedure will necessarily be experienced by her as invasive and disturbing. Apparently, no one will ever warn a pregnant woman about these very real risks and consequences. This is very disturbing, when you consider all the other warnings our society gives the general population about so many other things that are far less deadly or damaging. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion".

So, where does that leave us?

I am a Christian man, a Roman Catholic, and a priest. However, I am not the only one who is very concerned about all of these issues. It matters that children are being robbed of their innocence by being introduced too early to what we could call "the pleasures of sexual experimentation" without the truly human context that makes our human sexuality and fertility the blessing intended by God our Creator. Without that context of authentic human love and genuine family life, we end up with the mess in which we now find ourselves. Our culture unashamedly promotes "pleasure without consequences or responsibility" and the end result is that our society has become infanticidal.

The so-called "sexual revolution" of the 1960's has produced generations of children without fathers, women without husbands, men without families, mere children or adolescents having children, and adults with consciences troubled by the regrettable murder of their "unwanted children". The propaganda boasted that sexual freedom would make woman "like men" in their newfound ability to "enjoy sex". It was a lie because, unlike men, women are designed to conceive and bear life. There is no way for a woman to avoid her true nature as a female human being other than tearing out of herself all that makes her distinctively "woman".

We men are responsible for "hosting" this monstrous lie and for the devastating consequences that countless girls and women have suffered since then until now. It may have appeared to men to be an advantage for women to "be sexually liberated", but all it has meant is that men have found it easier to "have their way" with girls and women. Neither of us has truly gained, but we both have lost much. Women have surrendered their human dignity in allowing themselves to "be used" by men, and they continue to pay the price, and it is exorbitant.

Men have not fared any better. Whenever a boy or man "takes advantage" of a girl or woman, he is by the same token diminished in his own human dignity, because we have been designed to cultivate the earth and to protect and take care of others, not to exploit them. Much if not all of the tragedy and sadness of human history has been caused by men who abandoned their calling to cultivate the earth and to protect and take care of others.

The "bill" for the "pill" is very expensive in human terms.... 

The end result of this so-called sexual revolution is the current crisis of manhood and of womanhood we now witness on planet Earth. Boys who grow up avoiding their responsibilities to care for others but instead exploit them turn into nothing more than "pirates", living without principle, dignity, or true goal. Girls who grow up trying to escape rather than enter into their full dignity as female human beings turn into nothing more that caricatures of "liberated men", trying to become like men instead of becoming who they truly are.

Our human fertility, instead of being a powerful capacity to be treasured and cultivated, becomes a problem to be treated as a sickness and medicated. We surrender to the temptation to "use" and "take pleasure" and avoid the challenge and the calling to "become someone" by truly caring for others.

Thanks be to God that He continues to care for us and love us, offering us fullness of life in love

You are not likely to read in the mass media, or even in much of social media, how woman and men are being restored by God to their full human dignity. It's true, and it's happening all around us. All over the Earth women and men who, either regretting an abortion or fearful of seeking an abortion, turn to God instead. When they turn to God with their whole being, they find in God the source of life and love. This is particularly true of Christians because of the way in which Jesus Christ revealed God to us more intimately and fully than ever before in human history.

At no time in any other religion has the one true God shown himself to be more committed to giving us life or restoring us to life when we were in danger of death or forgiving us for our sins and crimes and instilling in us a new life, a life transformed.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Rite Catholics, and Orthodox Christians are particularly blessed in that they can meet Jesus, the resurrected and living Lord, in the person of the priest through the encounter which we call Confession, or the Sacrament of Penance, or Reconciliation. When a believer confesses to a priest, it is Jesus himself who is there receiving their confession, and when the priest gives them absolution, it is Jesus himself who forgives them; just as He forgave sins while on Earth.

This experience of God's mercy forms us and opens up for us and within us a new capacity to receive the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God, and to go on to love God back in gratitude, and to turn around and love others better, because we finally become able - by the grace and divine action of God - to love ourselves authentically, that is, to live a new life in which we begin to assume the fullness of our human dignity as perfectly designed by the Creator of the Universe.

The most Holy Trinity does not work these wonders within us merely for our own sake, as good and true as this is, but also so that we might - as Saint Paul wrote - become ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) and share with the whole world this good news first brought to the Earth by Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Son of God the Father. It is the Holy Spirit, poured into us for the first time at Baptism, who empowers us to truly become and live as children of God (John 1:12-13) in the midst of a depraved generation. Philippians 2:14-15

So, please feel free to share this good news as widely as you can. If this page can help you get started, then please feel free to go ahead and share it. May every gesture you make in favor of life and out of love for your neighbor become an opportunity for God to abundantly bless you!

Christ is risen, alleluia! He is truly risen, alleluia!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forever and ever. Amen. Alleluia!

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Value of life - harm of abortion - what to do?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Life is generally recognized as a value. On that basis, death is seen as a loss; so abortion then could also be seen as a loss. Does that mean that clergy should preach vigorously and frequently against abortion and in favor of defending and protecting life from conception to the grave?

I view this question as simplistic in a way. We don't live in a vacuum or in static time. For centuries the clergy in most places on Earth were very straightforward on moral issues, with the result that there were very strong taboos against abortions, and everyone believed that they are wrong.

As people in the West left the Church from the 1950's through the 1990's - to the point that in Québec most French churches with a capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 people (and where 5 to 8 Sunday Masses used to bring 5,000 to 12,000 people, adults, teens, children, and elders every Sunday of the year) now only see a few hundred people at one Mass on any given Sunday. Ethnic and English language parishes have fared better generally, but they have also declined, especially in recent years.

Vatican Council II (1962-1965) brought a different approach to preaching. For centuries people would hear series of sermons on specific themes, such as moral issues; with the general effect over time that all the serious thinking was done by "specialists" or "professional religious". Meanwhile what was neglected was the ability of the faithful to think for themselves and discover on their own the truth of the Gospel and of the Church's Tradition.

Sermons were now to be replaced by "homilies", which were to be reflections on the Word of God with a view to take up what had been neglected for centuries, namely, accompanying the faithful on the journey of faith in a personal relationship with the living God, the most Holy Trinity, through the development and equipping of their conscience; so that all might "put on the mind of Christ" as St. Paul regularly taught.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16

"Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Romans 13:14

"You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the nw self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24

We are called to set aside the old, depraved way of living and in its place embrace the new life exemplified by Christ Jesus and offered to us by Him, patterning ourselves after his example and dedicating ourselves to a life of faith and devotion, love, forgiveness and mercy, truth and service. Colossians 3

The one who brings conviction to our consciences is the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, and the One who reminds us of all the truth as taught and witnessed by Jesus, and who gives light to mind, heart, and soul to understand all things as God understands them.

It was often felt that from the early 1800's to the mid-1950's that the Church barged into people's consciences and decided for them, with the result that we had a fairly uniform and complacent society in which only the most desperate and disobedient and distant would dare to seek out an abortion. The orphanages were full of abandoned children who at least survived their own birth.

If we are to give the benefit of the doubt that clergy were motivated by genuine love for the people, then we can only surmise that this more authoritarian approach was taken because they were unable or found it difficult to form people in their consciences or ultimately to trust them to abide by their own consciences. It was more direct and perhaps felt to be simpler to dictate to people's consciences and just tell them what to do and what to avoid.

The rather uniform collective behavior typical of these closed societies was more a function of conformity, but not necessarily a deliberately chosen morality or or enthusiastically sought after sanctity. Societies become "closed societies" when there is a general consensus and desire or need to do all that is possible in order for the collectivity to survive and carry on its way of life and values. These mechanisms are much more about society than about the Church, sociology not theology.

As a result the society has generally turned away from the Church as a moral or spiritual guide and in seeking answers and meaning people are going anywhere but to the Church or Christianity or the Word of God. That is why our Diocese, as with all the others, is at a point of going back to basics, to how Jesus himself began his ministry, namely, a personal relationship with God the Father in the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We have no choice but to follow Jesus and imitate the Master. He did not snuff out the smoldering wick nor break the bent reed, but instead proclaimed a good news. He only spoke in judgement against those who tried to prevent the little ones from coming to Jesus. He himself said that He came not to judge but to save.

There are those even today, and they are not few, who would want the clergy to go back to going on crusades against abortion. The problem is that those who go to Church today generally do so because they want to. For the most part, they already know that abortion - among other acts - is wrong or a great harm, because they are listening to the Holy Spirit. They perceive that gentle voice within their conscience, each to the varying degrees of their development of conscience. The ones who are being fooled into thinking that abortion is just a procedure and that what is taken out during an abortion is merely "a lump of flesh", and not a human life, are far less likely to be in Church at any time but are very numerous and most likely not in Church but "out there".

It is a commonly held view that, as a result of this high handed and authoritarian approach "laying down the law" and condemning lists of sinful behaviours, we shoved the Holy Spirit out of the way by preaching fire and brimstone from the pulpit. The fruits are that we alienated a whole population away from God because we were no longer preaching the good news as Jesus intends.

We are not going back to fire and brimstone because it doesn't work. We don't avoid preaching on moral issues, but the primary focus is on the good news of God's love and mercy. Once people begin to really understand that God loves them, that Jesus died in order to offer them a new way of life, and to accept God's love and mercy as a free gift; then love supernaturally prompts them to want to love God back and to avoid offending Him.

People are thinking for themselves now, whether we like it or not, and they feed on whatever they can find on the Internet for the most part. There are new waves of evangelists, Catholic as well as from all of the other Christian denominations, who proclaim this good news of God's love coupled with his call to repentance. It is good that in our churches we echo this proclamation of the kerygma, of the essential teaching which Jesus initiated and exemplified in his life, preaching, miracles, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit.

We also reach out to the general population who, for the most part, are not going very often if at all to any church, through "40 Days for Life" when Pro-Life people hold placards near abortion clinics and manage to reach a few people but also bear the brunt of contempt from others. This is an action in which all can take part, a work of mercy accessible to all. It is not difficult for anyone to get in touch with their local Pro-Life organization such as Campaign Life Coalition in Canada or to simply go through the "40 Days" website. Here is the webpage for Montreal, Québec, Canada.

We pray. We preach the good news as well as we can. We try to form missionary disciples who give witness out in the world to the truth, the way, and the life, and whenever possible, engage in chats about moral issues to accompany people in their searching. Anyone can take their relationship with God more seriously and make a point to pray every day, and even several times a day.

Unless more young men find the courage in God's love to answer Jesus' call to follow Him as bearers of his priestly ministry, in a short time our parishes will no longer have priests to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy, at all; so this issue of insisting on the evils of abortion from the pulpit will be moot. We are all responsible to pray for vocations - for those whom God is calling to the priesthood, or to religious life, or to consecrated virginity, celibacy for the kingdom of God, and of course, Marriage / Matrimony and family life.

Our Archbishop is right. This is not our Church, but the Church of Jesus Christ. We all need to listen to Him, because He is the Master and Lord, and no one else. It is not up to us to devise strategies for resolving the Church's and the world's issues and problems. Jesus is the King, and He needs willing and obedient (listening) servants, soldiers, friends, and missionary disciples.

In light of this perspective, like Saint Paul and the other apostles, we realize that we live here in exile and that our true home is heaven, the kingdom of God, which is already begun on Earth in the minds, hearts, and souls of believers, and in whom God has already begun to reign. Jesus declared "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3

Our duty to the state is to obey its laws and to pray for its leaders.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

One of the state's laws relates to elections; so Christians are no different in this regard from other citizens: we have a duty to vote. We can try to vote for candidates who support life and oppose abortion; however, it is not beyond some candidates to manipulate these issues as well. Our Church teaches us that we are to employ our minds and hearts and vote the best we can according to our conscience. We are no longer in the days when clergy reminded people that heaven was blue and hell was red in reference to the colors of the two major parties of the day. To the best of their ability, citizens need to hold accountable those who stand for public office, are elected, and carry the mantle and burden of authority and public service.

When we cannot find candidates who are on record for supporting life, we can prick their consciences by writing them with all due respect and kindness, to try to open up dialogue on these issues. We can become a catalyst for change for the good.

Some will cancel their vote when they find no pro-life candidate; while others will vote for the lesser of possible evils. No one can or should dictate such outcomes, in my opinion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers common sense guidelines to assist the faithful in their deliberations before voting in public elections. When there are no other options, it may be reasonable to vote for the lesser of possible evils in accord with the short list of available candidates.

From what we can see here in Canada, our southern neighbor, the American Church, has been much more aggressive in dictating to the consciences of the faithful, going so far as to excommunicate RC politicians who voted for abortion services, just to give one example. However, the general failure of the American episcopate to properly manage the clergy sex abuse has now had an adverse effect on the consciences of the general population, both Catholic and non-Catholic. The more strident the clergy have been against abortion, the more people are losing respect for that voice.

The role of the clergy is to accompany people and help them form their conscience, not to try to manipulate public behavior and policy with "moral strong arm tactics". Jesus did not come into our world to initiate "power plays" either in secular government or in religious leadership. Rather, Jesus came to appeal to individual consciences to welcome his Father's love and turn away from evil.

We need to take our cues from the Master. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, simultaneously sitting at the Father's right hand and dwelling among us here on Earth. He is King of the nations. He is the only Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, the beloved Son of the Father, and the Father's command to us is: "Listen to his voice."

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Christians, like Jesus Christ, have always been hated

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Much is said and written these days about the anomalous fact that the majority of peoples suffering persecution all over Planet Earth in our day are Christians. Perhaps not surprisingly, it appears to have always been so. It is believed that the following "Letter to Diognetus" was written in the second century A.D. It is astounding to see how relevant even today, almost two millennia later, the author's observations remain pertinent today. 

While individual Christians actually manifest human weakness and do not always follow perfectly the example of their Lord Jesus in the face of persecution, hatred, and suffering; Christians generally tend to eventually rise to the occasion as individuals, and as a collective body, they do effectively make Christ visible in each generation. This would be the most dramatic way in which the Christian faith continues to give witness to the presence and action of the risen Christ in every time and place. 

From a letter to Diognetus

The Christian in the world

Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. 

Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. 

Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.

Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. 

A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. 

As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. 

Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. 

The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. 

As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Madonna House Apostolate

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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This month I have the privilege of living with the "Family" of the Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ontario, Canada, where they began May 17, 1947 when their foundress Catherine de Hueck Doherty moved here from Chicago with her husband Eddie Doherty, and where they now also have their Training Center. You can check it out on their website: www.madonnahouse.org

A month long immersion from mid-December to mid-January encompassed me in our rich traditions of both West and East for Advent and the Christmas Season, from the days of decorating, baking, praying, singing, and hearing "Donkey Bells" to the awe and wonder of celebrating the Nativity of the Son of God in Bethlehem at the Liturgy of the Hours, at daily Mass, at the occasional Divine Liturgy, at festive meals, and family after-dinner recitals....

Now it is the end of the Season of Lent with penitential prayers, fasting, penance, personal reflection, and acts of repentance; as we prepare for Holy Week and walking with the Lord Jesus into his Passion, Death, and Resurrection....

It was my birthday yesterday and it was delightful to be included by the "kitchen crew" with 2 others also born on this day, a staff worker and a guest, in the singing of "Happy Birthday".... In the afternoon there was a moment of "holy hilarity" when first one "birthday baby" was prayed for at the prayers of the faithful, then a second, and then... a pregnant moment of silence... broken by the presiding priest who mentioned the third, me... and there was a spontaneous eruption of blessed laughter.... Then in the evening, the brother priests sharing Vianney House Priests' Guesthouse broke out the snacks and they helped me give thanks to God for the gift of my life....

"O Lord how good it is for us to be here...." "How good it is for brothers to live and pray together... it is like the oil flowing down from the head of Aaron onto his beard and the collar of his robes...."

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Homophobia Schmobophobia

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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A lot has been happening, has it not?

These days for members of the Roman Catholic Church - both laity and clergy - it is like going to the surgeon with an infected boil to have it lanced under the scalpel. It has been hurting for a long time, but for various reasons we found it difficult to have it taken care of, and now that we are "under the knife", it hurts a little more unless there is some anesthetic applied, and then all manner of awful looking and terrible smelling infectious material comes spurting out.... It's unpleasant but necessary. It's long overdue and it has to be done, it has to be done cleanly, and it has to be done thoroughly.

So too with any harm done to anyone in the past until this moment by any member of our Church... it certainly has to be done, done well, and as soon as possible. Meanwhile those who have suffered and are probably still suffering need proper attention and care; for our God fully intends for them to have life and have it in abundance as He does for all his human children. God also wants the guilty to be tried, properly judged, punished, and hopefully somehow redeemed. Jesus died for every human being without distinction; which is why Jesus commanded us to pray for our enemies and to do good to those who have harmed us. There is no other way to be true children of our Father in heaven, who causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on the good and the bad alike.

So there is a lot of smoke in the air obscuring our vision of all that is going on. We hear rumors that some of our clergy, perhaps even some of our bishops, may have been "plants" planned long ago by the then U.S.S.R. with the intention that they enter seminary somewhere, get ordained priests, perhaps progress even into the ranks of the bishops, and from there wreak all kinds of havoc in the Church and in society as "agents of chaos". Such a scenario might explain at least in some cases how ordained priests or bishops could do some of the harm of which they are being found guilty.

Still, it wouldn't explain all of the cases of abuse or of neglect of proper and prompt leadership. There are undoubtedly perpetrators who were simply twisted, damaged, and perhaps themselves victims of abuse. There have undoubtedly been negligent bishops who were poorly advised or who didn't get sufficiently updated on the latest discoveries in psychology and psychiatry. What seemed like good leadership in the 1950's was no longer adequate in the 1970's and each subsequent decade brought rapid advances in those medical fields which radically changed our understanding of these behaviors, the seriousness of their consequences, and our knowledge of what constitutes proper and timely response and responsible leadership.

Much good has finally resulted from the firm, consistent, and unrelenting leadership of Saint Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis with regard to these pressing and vital issues. Our Church leadership is attending with increasing competence and timeliness to these problems with priority attention being given to any who have suffered abuse, and simultaneously stopping in their tracks any others who may be guilty of abuse; so that they can be prevented from hurting anyone else.

The speed with which these reforms are implemented varies with each diocese, in which the ultimate authority rests with the bishop. The Bishop of Rome is the "first among equal brothers" and exercises an authority of influence more than of judicial authority. He can suspend and even laicize a bishop, but the case must be justified and well documented, which is often difficult to do. That is why collaboration with secular authorities in society is now being such a help and support. We all need to see this being done expeditiously and well. The dignity of the human person demands it; the goodness and justice of God demands it; the truth and beauty of our faith demands it; the good of souls and the progress of the Gospel in the world and the building up of our Church demands it. We all demand it on behalf of the innocent and vulnerable and for our own peace of mind and heart.

And what of homophobia?

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I for one have had it with the way this term is brandied about as a club with which to beat into silence anyone who may disagree with the latest absurd demands being made by any fringe group of individuals trying to push some new agenda down the throats of everyone else in civil society. Well, to any who would accuse me of "homophobia", the only answer I have for them is "Homophobia Schmobophobia!" This term is for the most part as absurd as is the readiness of some to use it as a club to be applied to anyone or their reputation who disagrees with the latest declaration and demands of people who may identify with the latest edition of the "LGBTQ-5C-XKM--GU-K-FM-N-JGI-O-R8-6-84-57..." lobby.

I may not "like" or "savor" the specific sexual practices of those who self-identify as "homo" or any other related term. It is my right as a human being not to "like" or "savor" or "not to find delightful" such practices, but that doesn't mean that I'm afraid of them or of those people. I may find it unfortunate that some people choose to identify their whole existence only on the flimsy basis of what is being called "sexual orientation", even though there are psychiatrists and psychotherapists who find that such inclinations may actually change.

I don't like curry much, but that doesn't mean that I'm afraid of it. It's just that when I walk through a food court and the pungent smell of curry fills my nostrils, by body reacts in the direction of nausea which would make me sick were I to stay there for too much longer. So I don't especially like curry, but I'm not afraid of it. Nor do I like being stung by bees or wasps, but not being allergic, I don't live in fear of them either. I truly believe that there are very few people actually afraid of other people who self identify as "homo" something or other.

However, I do believe that no one likes being bullied or forced into accepting anything against their will. You want to eat curry, fine. Just don't try to force me to eat it or like it. To each his own. It would be normal for people to have an aversion for and in time even a fear of anyone who behaves as a bully. Nor do I like to see adults pushing a self-serving agenda who then try to indoctrinate children or youth or to apply labels to them and convince them that they are "locked in" to a particular lifestyle or "way of being human". Such tactics are nothing more than abuse of the innocence of the young.

What is a human being, a human person?

This is especially true of anyone who is not yet fully in adulthood. Classic psychology has firmly established through observation and clinical analysis that human beings are not fully developed until sometime between 18 and mid-twenties. We spend the rest of our lives developing, but once we are adults, we basically have all we need for life. Before then, especially in adolescence, we are still developing our physical limbs and organs, our psyche and all its faculties, our mind and the brain itself, not to mention the pulling of it all together in the emerging personality and character. It is harmful to apply any labels to human beings at any time, but especially in childhood and youth, when all our human attributes are in flux and development and not yet "set" firmly.

The so-called "gay lobby" started out almost a half century ago as a "liberation movement", riding the coat tails of the black freedom movement in the USA at the time. Any sensible person would agree that it is not right, that is is unjust and at times even a crime for anyone to harass, persecute, or in any way harm another simply because they are "different". In that sense, many gains were made by and for those who self identify as "homo" or any other related term. They can walk about, chat, and live their lives as freely as anyone else in society, and that is as it should be.

Where this whole "gay lobby" goes off the rails, it seems, is where certain members or agencies within this minority want to turn society upside down in such a way that "their way" becomes the norm or accepted as the normal way of being human, and the way of everyone else would be treated as the minority or as the optional or alternative way. Now that is really going too far, and the "gay lobby" is beginning to experience "push back" from the rest of society.

The bullies won't want to treat with anyone about the issues or about their behavior because they simply want what they want just because they want it, and they don't want anyone to be allowed to want anything different from what they want. They want to have the prominence and they don't want anyone else to have a different view or in any way to deprive them of the prominence they seek. That's pretty much what happened in Nazi Germany in the early 1930's. Anyone who expressed a view different from the one being "pushed" by the brown shirts was beaten with a club, literally. That's how it started, but then the people succumbed to their fears and elected to remain silent.

So this is simply a declaration from one obscure individual to the "gay lobby": "Homophobia Schmobophobia!" I'm not afraid of you... I just don't like your sexual practices, but instead I acknowledge as beautiful what the Creator designed when He created human beings as "male and female" intending them to be a couple to bring forth children together. Apparently we don't all see beauty in the same places, but that is also what it means to be human. We are different.

Whatever your situation may be, may you and your loved ones be at peace in the knowledge that God loves each and every human being He has created. You are beautiful and you have great dignity simply because you are a human being, not because of any label you may have been convinced to apply to yourself. Whatever feelings you may have from time to time, whatever may be your experience of human sexuality or of sexual inclinations or feelings, these do not define who you are.

What is our origin and our destiny as human beings?

What defines who you are is that you are human and one to whom the Creator has given life to live in abundance now and to continue this life in eternity. God loves you so that you might know within yourself directly from God - by his Holy Spirit - that God loves you, and that you may be filled with his love and come to love Him in return; for only then will your heart be filled to satisfaction, once you close the circle and make a return of love to the One who has loved you first in giving you life. The model of this new paradigm of human existence is Jesus of Nazareth, known as the Christ, the Anointed One, the One who died and rose again from the dead, the One who will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the One sent by the Father to the Earth to reveal to humanity that our origin and our destiny are both in God our Creator, the first One we will meet at the very instant that our soul, our spirit, leaves this body behind temporarily and enters into the awesome presence of God.

Although this coming into the radiant presence and life-giving love of God seems so attractive and desirable, it is not a good idea to "hasten the day" by seeking a premature end to our mortal existence on this Earth. Why is that? It is because the radiance of who God is as the Source of all life and love is so bright and intense, that it will be impossible to endure that full intensity unless we are already "perfectly in sync" with the reality of God Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is a single divine Being but a Trinity of divine Persons living in such intense communion of love that this love is the "fountain" from which flows all that exists in the Universe.

God knows that we are not ready yet to "face Him", and in his kindness, mercy, and patience, gives us "lots of room" in this mortal life on Earth to "find our way" and to allow Him to make use of all the trials, troubles, temptations, joys, and sorrows of this life to "purify" the intentions of our heart, to strengthen our will, and to bring us willingly and generously into living a life that is kind, patient, forgiving, merciful, and indulgent; just as God is with us. God alone knows when will be the opportune moment for us to leave this life and pass into eternity. We need to trust in God's wisdom and love and do our best to know and to do his will, to follow his guidance along the paths of life, and to live in peace and love with all our fellow human beings.

May God's peace be with you and your loved ones now and forever....

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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