Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time — Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Today is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and an opportunity for Catholics to pray for the legal protection of unborn children. It is also a chance to think more deeply about what Catholics believe about the dignity of being human, for this is at the center of Catholic teaching against abortion (as well as all the other crimes against humanity that Catholic teaching says is evil - things like rape, and genocide, and forced labor).
One of the most amazing parts about Catholic teaching on the human person is that we do not think humans are made for any purpose other than to love and be in love with God and the rest of God's people. Today's gospel lesson (Mark 2:23-28) reminds us of this teaching. Jesus and his disciples are caught harvesting grain on the Sabbath, which causes the Pharisees to complain that they seem not to be following God's law. But Jesus' answer is: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." In other words, we do not exist for the purpose of following rules. Rather, God out of love gave us the sabbath as a day of rest.
Importantly, this view of the day of rest being made for humans stands in stark contrast to beliefs of other near-Eastern cultures. Among the Babylonians, for example, humans were created to be slaves to God and to work as often and long as possible. This belief in turn affected the way Babylonian society was run: the strongly hierarchical society reinforced slavery as the way that people were meant to be. If there were some that were not slaves, it was because they were closer to the gods than to humanity. By contrast, the Jewish law about the Sabbath is meant to be a strong statement that God creates us and intends us for love all the time. Part of that love is that God is not a coercive God, but one who shows love abundantly.
This strong belief in God's love forms part of the basis for arguments against racism, slavery and many other evil actions. We believe that people do not have to fit into society's mold of what "counts" as useful. We do not exist to be other peoples' slaves, nor to live at below-subsistence wages in order that others might be richer. We believe just as deeply that the unborn are invited into God's loving, especially God's loving generosity and that forms the basis for the church's teachings against abortion.
One of the deep concerns about abortion is that it is seen socially as a way to "fix" what society believes is a problem - and to fix it by killing a human being (even if an unborn human being). But God's generosity is a generosity directed toward all of us. Who am I that I should be given the grace and love of a life in God? Who is anyone? Being against abortion affirms belief in this generosity and love of God's because we affirm that we strive to love all people.
This does not mean that the teaching against abortion is not a difficult one to understand, at times, or that it is easy to practice, especially when women find themselves in difficult (and unloving) situations. But this is one of the many reasons why the first reading (Hebrews 6:10-20) is important to hear alongside the gospel. We are exhorted to take refuge in God's hope and to live with eagerness against evil. Many Catholics have done this by working for crisis pregnancy centers, considering adoption and foster care and other kinds of options.
Today as we pray for legal protection of the unborn, let us be mindful of just and loving ways to express generosity toward the unborn and their mothers and fathers.
- Jana M. Bennett