Abortion damages women and kills children. We can take courage, however, from Jesus' parable of The Good Samaritan. Father Frank Pavone of the group Priests for Life illustrates the parable in this way. "On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a man fell in with robbers. A priest and a Levite came by, but did not stop to help. Despite their knowledge of the Law and Prophets, they walked right by. Why?
One of the reasons may be that they were afraid. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a steep and dangerous road. At the time of Jesus, it had come to be known as the 'Bloody Pass'. Because of its numerous curves, it lends itself to attacks by robbers who can easily hide not too far from their victims. Perhaps the priest and Levite who passed by that man said to themselves, 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? Maybe the robbers who attacked him are still here. Maybe they're hiding just around the bend. This is a dangerous road. I better keep going.'
And then the Good Samaritan came along, and he reversed the question. He didn't ask, 'If I help this man, what will happen to me?' The Good Samaritan asked, 'If I do not help this man, what will happen to him?' And that's the question for us. If I do not address this evil, what will happen to the unborn? If I do not get involved, what will happen to those who are vulnerable, to those who are marginalized in our society, those who are oppressed, those who have no one to speak for them?"
Father Pavone's illustration applies to both the unborn and their mothers, because both are powerfully damaged by abortion. May we be like the Good Samaritan and ask ourselves "What will happen to this mother and child if I do not help them?" May we answer our own question by giving life-affirming support to women and children. No to abortion; yes to life.
Rudy Poglitsh
rpoglitsh@live.com
more letters at http://letterstotheTOS.blogspot.com
