This week Christians remember Christ's entry to Jerusalem, His crucifixion and death on Good Friday, and His Resurrection on Easter morning. When we get honest with ourselves, each of us remembers things we've done that were wrong-whether they hurt other people or were simply dishonest. Jesus' death and resurrection takes away the punishment and grief of our sin and brings us into friendship with God the Father.
This space has documented the emotional, spiritual, and relational chaos that abortion visits on huge numbers of women. Perhaps someone reading this knows the grief of an abortion they cannot leave in the past.
Christ came to forgive and heal the victims of abortion. In his document "The Gospel of Life", Pope John Paul II wrote: "I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give into discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercy is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life."
Any woman suffering the painful aftereffects of an abortion is encouraged, especially this week and weekend, to turn to Christ for healing. He came for each one of us, to take away the punishment and pain of those things we know we should not have done. He came to replace that pain with life and peace. God bless you.
Rudy Poglitsh
rpoglitsh@live.com
more letters at http://letterstotheTOS.blogspot.com
