33rd Anniversary of Roe vs Wade

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time January 22, 2006
Have you ever seen a cartoon showing someone carrying a sign that says, “REPENT, THE END IS NEAR”?

All three readings today are about “the end”. In our first reading, the Lord sends Jonah to Nineveh to announce to the people that in 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed. The people believed him, repented, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth.

When God saw their actions, He changed His mind and didn’t destroy them.

In the second reading, Paul tells the Corinthians that “time is running out”. “The world in its present form is passing away.”

Finally, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells the Galileans, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

Three readings, three warnings. Scholars believe that the first reading, from the Book of Jonah was written about 500 B.C. Through all these thousands of years, we‘ve lived with the fact that God could destroy the world at any time. He did it once. He can do it again.


You remember that a lot of people thought that the beginning of the twenty-first century might be the end. One problem with that was that there were two schools of thought on when the millenium actually occurred. Was it January 1, 2000 or January 1, 2001. Either way, we’re still here.

Some of our protestant brothers and sisters believe that the end will come sooner, rather than later. Some denominations don’t believe in accumulating wealth because they don’t expect to be here to spend it. Others have actually predicted dates when the world would end. Of course, they’ve always been wrong. But, not to be discouraged, they would mumble something about their calculator batteries being dead, or a page missing from their calendar, and then cheerfully set another date.

But, does it really matter all that much? After all, each of us is going to have our individual “end” and thank God, we have no idea when it’s going to be. Whether Jesus comes back during our lifetime or not, He will judge us when our time comes, based on how we’ve lived our lives.

But, what about those who never have a chance to live their lives? What about the 40 million children who have been killed in the United States since 1973, the year the Supreme Court ruling on Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal through all nine months of pregnancy? Today marks the 33rd anniversary of that terrible decision.

33 years ago, I was 24 years old. I had hair. In fact, I had an afro. Jan and I had no children. Richard Nixon was president and we were still at war in Viet Nam. “The Godfather” won the Academy Award for best picture. “The Waltons” walked away with all the TV Emmies for drama and “All in the Family” was the best comedy series, even though “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” won most of the comedy awards.

Oakland beat the Mets in the World Series in 1973 and the Dolphins beat the Redskins in Super Bowl VII. The Los Angeles rams were 12-2 in 1973 and the St. Louis Cardinals were 4-6-1 for the third year in a row.

And here, in the greatest country on earth, we began killing nearly 3,000 unborn babies every day and called it a “choice”.

Jonah was very angry with God when He didn’t destroy Nineveh. After he had been punished for his own misdeeds, he couldn’t understand why God would spare the Ninevites. I wonder what Johah would think about the United States today?

We all wonder what eternity will be like. What will God say to us when we finally get the chance to see Him face-to-face? We know we’ll be judged for what we did in this life. I know I wonder what he’ll say to me. But I also wonder, what does God say to those tiny souls who are victims of abortion when they arrive on His doorstep in heaven? He can’t judge them. They never got the chance to do anything to be judged for. How do you explain to someone why their life was taken away from them before they ever had a chance to draw a breath? “I’m sorry but your death was someone’s ‘choice’”? What does He say?

I suppose He could say that you’re lucky not to be born to such selfish parents. Or that you didn’t have to go through all the trials and tribulations that come with living as a human being.

I wonder, has he ever said, “I’m really sorry. You were the one who was going to grow up and find a cure for cancer.” Or, “You were the one who was finally going to bring peace to the world.” But that would serve us right, wouldn’t it?

More than 40 million “safe and legal” abortions have been performed in the United States since 1973. I love that phrase “safe and legal”. Abortion may be legal, but it’s hardly safe. How can you call something ‘safe’ that ALWAYS takes a life? At the start of the procedure there are two beating hearts. At the end, only one. That doesn’t sound safe to me.

When two people leave on a vacation and you tell them to have a safe trip, don’t you expect both of them to come back alive? Isn’t that what “safe” means. But today, in the United States, where we’re guaranteed the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, you can legally stop a beating heart and call it “safe”; call it a “choice”.

On September 11, 2001, three thousand Americans were killed by terrorists and the country was outraged, as we should have been. But three thousand more Americans were killed on that day, and on September 12, and on September 13, and every day since by abortionists, and the country hardly blinks an eye. After all, it’s legal. Isn’t it a woman’s right to choose?

Personally, I’ve never had an abortion. But, I really haven’t done much to stop them, either. I used to be one of those people who said, “I’m opposed to abortion myself, but I don’t think it’s any of my business if someone else has one.” And, I really didn’t want to hear any sermons about it. Some of you may be thinking that right now. I hope not, but you may.

And, I can’t say I don’t understand why you would feel that way, because I used to feel that way myself.

But, you know what? It IS our business. It’s our business because one of those 40 million babies might have grown up to cure cancer; or to end hunger; or to bring world peace; or maybe to marry one of my kids. It’s our business because legal abortion cheapens all life, including our own. As Catholic Christians, we’re united with every other person on earth. When one hurts, we all hurt. We may not feel it at the time, but we hurt just the same.

When God destroyed the earth with the great flood, what could those people have been doing that was any worse than murdering children? When He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, what could they have done that was worse? I can’t imagine what it might have been.

But, what can we do about it? We can join pro-life groups. We can picket Planned Parenthood. We can join the annual march to Washington D.C. But we can also do our part right here at home. We can pray for an end to legalized abortion. We can vote for candidates who are Pro-Life. We can write to our elected employees in Washington DC and Jefferson City. We can learn all we can about Pro-Life issues like embryonic stem cell research and work to prevent it’s becoming law.

We can also show our kids and grandkids, by our example and by our words, that we hold all life to be precious, from conception to natural death.


Categories: pro_life, abortion, roe, vs, wade