"Things that once
appalled us now have become commonplace. We have heard so much evil that it
doesn't bother us anymore."
The horrific acts of violence in today's world have been ignored. Maybe because talking about them is uncomfortable, or because we don't want to accept reality. Ignoring acts of violence does not make them go away. Abortion kills 115,000 people worldwide every single day. It is the leading cause of death. You may have heard these statistics before, or maybe you have not. Many of us when hearing terrifying truths such as this are horrified and then choose to move on and bring our minds to something else.
As a big pro-life activist, I myself have become desensitized to the tragedy of abortion. I have seen dozens of pictures of aborted babies, seen women leave abortion clinics after killing their children and have read books written by former abortionists. I know in my head and my heart that abortion is wrong but many times I fail to let myself grieve for these babies, women and men.
This morning at mass there was a beautiful 4 week old baby girl that was baptized. I immediately felt pain in my heart for all of the babies of similar size that are aborted everyday. Their lives are not spared. I held back tears as long as I could manage, even after congratulating the family on welcoming their child into the kingdom of God and allowing their child to receive such a beautiful sacrament. Then it just hit me. The reality of abortion and human life. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I began to cry. Life is such a precious thing, yet we ignore the acts of violence that take it away. We choose to separate ourselves from that reality because we don't want to feel the pain. We try to convince ourselves that these acts of violence are just another part of the news, just another statistic, just another tragedy....but this is not what it truly is. It's human life- being ripped away by instruments every second of every day, because of the so called "woman's right to choose." Because "it's not a human being yet," "it's not viable outside of the womb yet," "it shouldn't intrude on a woman's body because she doesn't want it there"-- all of these statements have desensitized us! They have caused us NOT to FEEL! These statements do not make the situation better. Ignoring these horrifying statistics does not save babies and does not educate others on the sanctity of life.
This morning when I allowed myself to feel, it was a very painful thing; a very painful thing. But a very beautiful thing. The priest this morning talked with me after mass because he liked my pro-life shirt I was wearing. I immediately started telling him about the burden on my heart this morning after seeing the little girl to be baptized and how so many babies lives are not spared- the tears just kept flowing. I typically do not like to cry in public because I feel it is a weakness. Today I did not feel such a thing. The priest told me "If more people allowed tears to flow for abortion like you do, it wouldn't be such a big problem."
Ephesians 5:1 says, Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
God did not ignore injustice- he spoke the cold hard truth. Let us allow ourselves to feel the pain of abortion and other injustices. To let ourselves FEEL and not hide ourselves from the reality of violence. Let us be inspired by the Truth and to ACT according to this. To help inspire others to let themselves feel and not be desensitized. And in response to do good works to change things. To speak out against abortion, to educate ourselves by reading books and watching documentaries, to pray outside of abortion clinics, etc.
Ignorance is NOT bliss. It is simply an escape from a harsh reality that will eventually catch up with ourselves once we allow ourselves to feel.
The horrific acts of violence in today's world have been ignored. Maybe because talking about them is uncomfortable, or because we don't want to accept reality. Ignoring acts of violence does not make them go away. Abortion kills 115,000 people worldwide every single day. It is the leading cause of death. You may have heard these statistics before, or maybe you have not. Many of us when hearing terrifying truths such as this are horrified and then choose to move on and bring our minds to something else.
As a big pro-life activist, I myself have become desensitized to the tragedy of abortion. I have seen dozens of pictures of aborted babies, seen women leave abortion clinics after killing their children and have read books written by former abortionists. I know in my head and my heart that abortion is wrong but many times I fail to let myself grieve for these babies, women and men.
This morning at mass there was a beautiful 4 week old baby girl that was baptized. I immediately felt pain in my heart for all of the babies of similar size that are aborted everyday. Their lives are not spared. I held back tears as long as I could manage, even after congratulating the family on welcoming their child into the kingdom of God and allowing their child to receive such a beautiful sacrament. Then it just hit me. The reality of abortion and human life. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I began to cry. Life is such a precious thing, yet we ignore the acts of violence that take it away. We choose to separate ourselves from that reality because we don't want to feel the pain. We try to convince ourselves that these acts of violence are just another part of the news, just another statistic, just another tragedy....but this is not what it truly is. It's human life- being ripped away by instruments every second of every day, because of the so called "woman's right to choose." Because "it's not a human being yet," "it's not viable outside of the womb yet," "it shouldn't intrude on a woman's body because she doesn't want it there"-- all of these statements have desensitized us! They have caused us NOT to FEEL! These statements do not make the situation better. Ignoring these horrifying statistics does not save babies and does not educate others on the sanctity of life.
This morning when I allowed myself to feel, it was a very painful thing; a very painful thing. But a very beautiful thing. The priest this morning talked with me after mass because he liked my pro-life shirt I was wearing. I immediately started telling him about the burden on my heart this morning after seeing the little girl to be baptized and how so many babies lives are not spared- the tears just kept flowing. I typically do not like to cry in public because I feel it is a weakness. Today I did not feel such a thing. The priest told me "If more people allowed tears to flow for abortion like you do, it wouldn't be such a big problem."
Ephesians 5:1 says, Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
God did not ignore injustice- he spoke the cold hard truth. Let us allow ourselves to feel the pain of abortion and other injustices. To let ourselves FEEL and not hide ourselves from the reality of violence. Let us be inspired by the Truth and to ACT according to this. To help inspire others to let themselves feel and not be desensitized. And in response to do good works to change things. To speak out against abortion, to educate ourselves by reading books and watching documentaries, to pray outside of abortion clinics, etc.
Ignorance is NOT bliss. It is simply an escape from a harsh reality that will eventually catch up with ourselves once we allow ourselves to feel.
