In fact, who better than a former pro-abortionist could expose the evil of abortion? Who better than Roe of Roe vs. Wade could expose the lies that prop up the infamous legal underpinnings of abortion? Who better than a paralytic, once cured by the Lord, could convince other paralytics to come to meet the living Christ? That is why John Paul II writes to women who have had abortions and been forgiven by Jesus, “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.”
This is what Norma McCorvey does for us today, all across America and beyond. This is what Dr. Bernard Nathanson does today…the physician in New York City who began the first full-scale abortion clinic in the United States and presided over more than 70,000 abortions. Today he too has met the living Christ and opened his heart to the grace of conversion. He too stands up for life and speaks with more authority about the evils of abortion than perhaps any other medical doctor in the world. There is nothing more wondrous than the mercy of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus the Lord.
The living Christ equips us through His mercy to build a new culture of human life. It begins in our homes where each family fulfills its mission of being a sanctuary of life, a place where children are welcomed with joy and love from the first moment of their conception, and where each member of the family is treasured as a brother and sister in Christ.
A new culture of human life is built, too, through prayer, in the home and as a community of faith, joining together in the Sacred Liturgy, to celebrate the death and Resurrection of Christ by which the broken world has been redeemed. How good it is to lift our voices in praise to the Creator of all life. And we build a new Culture of Life when we teach the Ten Commandments and explain the Gospel of Christ in all its fullness. “You shall not kill” is one of the Ten Commandments that we cannot fail to repeat to the people of our age, in the courts and legislative chambers of our country, in the classrooms and in the neighborhoods of our cities. Like all the other commandments of God, it is good news, not a burden; it is freedom, not constriction. It is a truth that sets us free. The man who kills his brother or sister in the womb or at the last stages of a long life or at any stage in between is headed down the path to destruction. He is skidding toward eternal damnation. Out of love for him we cannot remain silent about the commandments of God, especially, “You shall not kill.” Even more importantly, we must not remain silent before him about the mercy of God that can turn his life around as it did for the paralytic and as it does for each of us.
As Jesus said to the paralytic, so He says to us today: “Have courage, your sins are forgiven.” Indeed, in His rich mercy our sins are forgiven. We have received new life. Let us have courage then to proclaim with joy the Gospel of Life.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted is Coadjutor Bishop of Wichita, Kansas. The article originally appeared in HLI Reports and is reprinted courtesy of Human Life International.
Whatever the case, this man could not come into Jesus’ presence by his own efforts. He needed the help of his friends.
Second, Jesus did not do for the paralytic what people expected Him to do, at least not at first. Jesus healed not his body first, but his soul. The first blessing Christ gave him was forgiveness of his sins: “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus attended to the man’s greatest need, not his obvious need. He did for this man what every man and woman needs most, to meet the Redeemer of the world and to receive His gift of mercy. Conversion of mind and heart is the first blessing we receive when we encounter the living Christ.
It is precisely for this grace of conversion that we pray; beginning with conversion for abortionists and others who see killing as a solution and personal “choice” as more important than a human life. And we pray for the gift of conversion and healing for all persons wounded by abortion, mothers and fathers who have made such a choice, and other members of their families who are scarred by the process.
Look again at the words Pope John Paul II addressed to these women in his encyclical letter, “The Gospel of Life” (#99):
“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 in to 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 mercies 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.”
Perhaps the most important part of the Holy Father’s words is his insistence on hope, when he says: “Do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope.” This surely was the advice of the friends of the paralytic. They would not let their friend be sucked into the downward spiral of despair. They lifted him up, carried him on their shoulders, and brought him to Christ. That is what Christians do for friends, that’s what Christians do for enemies, that’s what Christians do for all those wounded by abortion. We carry them to Christ, first of all, in our prayers, then by personal invitation and example, and finally by joining together with other Christians to proclaim the Gospel of Life. We bring them to Christ so that He can say to them: “Have courage, your sins are forgiven.”
What a great blessing is the gift of conversion! Not infrequently Jesus gives it to us when we least expect it. In an interview reported in the January 7, 2001, edition of the National Catholic Register, Annie Karto tells how Christ surprised her with His mercy:
“I was visiting my parents in Arkansas in 1989. They lived on top of a mountain in the Ozarks, just a few houses from the Little Portion Hermitage Retreat Center. My mother had invited me to take part in…Eucharistic adoration at the retreat center chapel. While there, a storm rolled in. I was unable to take my eyes off of Our Lord in the Eucharist through the thunder and lightning. I was riveted to His presence and felt that every wrong choice and sin was exposed and completely known to Him. At first I felt ashamed and wanted to leave the chapel, but my mother was sitting in the last pew and I didn’t want to have to go past her. I had a longing to be whole, and so I asked for forgiveness for my sins. Rather than a harsh judgment, I felt a river of mercy flood my soul. It swept away all the brokenness in my life.”
What a great blessing is the grace of conversion! Christ never gives us what we deserve; if He did, none of us could hope to be saved. And Christ does not give us what we expect. He gives us far more than we expect. For His mercy is more vast than the ocean, it is stronger than sin and more powerful than death. It can sweep away all the brokenness of our lives; it can root out all the twisted evils of our society. Every paralysis of body or soul surrenders before the love of the living Christ.
Moreover, the gift of conversion is a prelude to mission. What we receive as a gift can be given as a gift. When Miss Norma McCorvey encountered the living Jesus Christ in 1995, when she believed in Him and was baptized, not only did He turn her life around, putting hope in place of despair, freedom in place of addiction, joy in place of dismal sadness…he also gave her a mission for others.
