To Let the Unborn Go Free
January 21, 2007

Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: Neh. 8:2–4a, 5–6, 8–10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 19:8, 9, 10, 15

Reading 2: 1 Cor. 12:12–30 or 12:12–14, 27

Gospel: Lk. 1:1–4; 4:14–21

Link to Readings

By Father Frank Pavone

“He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives . . . to let the oppressed go free.”

Jesus, in His first public sermon, identifies the very purpose for which He came as “letting the oppressed go free.” When we celebrated His birth at Christmas, we heard these words in the hymn “O Holy Night”:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease!

The Lord Jesus sets the oppressed free from so many different kinds of oppression—and that includes all of us. We were all subject to the oppressive kingdom of sin and death, until He came and broke the power of that kingdom, liberating us from its dominion and giving us the freedom of the children of God. “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin,” Jesus had taught. But “the truth will set you free.” Each one of us is saved from the oppression of falsehood, sin, and death through the death and Resurrection of Christ, and we continue to take hold of that freedom every day.

Yes, we all still struggle with sin, and we all still must die. But in Christ we have the power to conquer sin, and we possess eternal life even now through our faith. The fundamental power of sin and death has been broken.

Yet the oppression from which Christ sets us free is not just physical. The Church teaches that Jesus brings redemption that is “integral,” “total.” He redeems us in body as well as soul. He redeems communities and nations, not just individuals. His Kingdom requires public policies that are right, not just individual actions that are right.

Any time a human being is oppressed, whether by another individual or by a tyrannical government system, the Christian is called to pay attention. That is a brother, a sister, who is being oppressed. Any time someone’s human rights are violated, the children of God are to cry out, for our Father made that person and loves that person and longs to set him or her free, both spiritually and physically.

Followers of Christ, therefore, are called to battle against the oppression of poverty and drug abuse, of economic and social injustice, of discrimination and marginalization, of tyranny and genocide. And we are called to battle against the oppression of abortion.

There is nothing in our society that destroys more human life than abortion—nothing at all, no crime, no disease, no natural disaster, no war. We destroy more lives in the United States by abortion in a single day than the total number of American casualties sustained so far in the Iraq war, since it began. There’s an abortion in our country every 26 seconds, over 3,300 a day. And these procedures are carried out on healthy mothers carrying healthy babies, even in the seventh, eighth, and ninth month of pregnancy!

These children are oppressed; their very right to live is not recognized. Thirty-four years ago this Monday (January 22), the Supreme Court decided not to recognize their rights, and through the Roe v. Wade decision, unleashed abortion-on-demand in our nation.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us—He has sent us to let the oppressed go free!

One of the key ways we do this is to spread the good news that there are alternatives to abortion.

Some promote abortion under the slogan “freedom of choice”. But the women getting abortions do not do so because of freedom of choice; they do so because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. I speak with them every day. They feel trapped, abandoned, desperate, and afraid. Sadly they feel that there is no one they can turn to except the abortionist.

The good news we proclaim today is that there are other people ready to help, that there are better choices better than abortion. The women of our country deserve better choices than that and we are ready to provide them! On behalf of tens of thousands of people working every day and every night throughout our land to provide these alternatives, I want to make you a promise today. Any woman from this community or from anywhere in the country, whatever her religion or ethnic background—if she is pregnant and in need she can come to us and she will be given all the assistance she needs for herself and for that child. I’m talking about the payment of all her medical bills, a place to live if necessary, legal advice and counseling, job and education opportunities, assistance to keep and raise that child, or to make an adoption plan, and any other need she has. People are ready to provide that help. Let no one ever feel that the only way to solve a problem is to have her child destroyed.

The sad thing is that so many who need this help don’t know it’s there. But that’s where you come in. Each one of you can save someone’s life by spreading the good news that there are alternatives to abortion. Give people the hotline numbers, like 1-800-395-HELP, which connects callers to the pregnancy help centers closest to where they live!

And not only do we reach out to those tempted to have abortions—we also reach out to those who have had abortions. To them we say, “The doors of the Church are open. We will not reject or condemn or cast you out. We want to welcome you back to the peace, the mercy, the forgiveness of Christ.” Whether they’ve had one or two or five or ten—there are even people who have had twenty-four abortions—they can be forgiven. When they turn away from their sins, they will be welcomed back and be given again the peace of Christ. So let no one despair. We’re not against you; we’re on your side.

To be pro-life means to be pro-woman. It doesn’t mean that we love the babies and we forget about the mothers. What it means is very simple: Why can’t we love them both? Protect them both? Welcome and care for them both? We can and together we will, because the same Spirit who anointed the Lord Jesus anoints us, and sends us to let the oppressed go free!

We are, as today’s second reading declares, one body in Christ. It means that I have to have as much concern and care and love for you as I have for a part of my own body. It means that even if we might not know each other’s names or have ever seen each other’s faces, it means that we have responsibility for each other, not because we choose but because of who we are. The responsibility we have for each other, in other words, is there already. It’s not there because we want it to be there. It’s there because God has made us one family; Christ has made us one body. We are responsible for each other.

Now people understand this when it comes to the latest victim of crime on the streets. People say, “Oh, isn’t that terrible, we have to bring an end to crime!” Or the last person who overdosed on drugs in our community, we say we have to stop that. Or somebody who has been abused at home, we say let’s bring an end to child abuse. Do you know that child’s name? Is that your child? Even if it’s not, we know we have concern, don’t we? We still want to stop the child abuse. How about the last person that’s been blown apart by a bomb in some senseless war someplace in the world? We want that to stop. We don’t know who those people are but we’re still responsible for them, aren’t we? They’re our brothers and sisters.

Some people say, “Well abortion is none of your business.” Well, wait a minute. What is our business? Isn’t it the business of love? And doesn’t love mean that when another person is in need or in danger we try to help them, and if we can’t help them, then at least we speak up for them? At least we recognize that they are our brothers and sisters. And so if we understand that we need to intervene for the drug victim or the crime victim or the war victim, why should it be so hard to understand that we have to intervene for the abortion victim, the most helpless children in our world?

I was preaching about this one Sunday in a Church in Florida, right near the beach. And after the Mass, I decided to take a little walk over to the beach—and the first thing I saw was a big sign that was posted there by the local authorities. Do you know what it said? It said, “Do not touch the sea turtles or their eggs; they are protected by local, state and federal law”. Well . . . I’m glad the sea turtles are protected. But if in this country we do not have the right to choose to smash the egg of a sea turtle, why do have the right to choose to smash a baby???

Let us not be afraid to speak up; let us not be indifferent. You know, my friends, our religion is not meant to turn us in on ourselves. Our religion is not meant to wrap us up in our own world. We come here to worship Christ, but then He sends us out and He says go into that world and make it better and make a difference. That’s part of worshipping Him.

And so today I urge you, I encourage you, I beg you, get actively involved in the effort to stop the killing of these children by abortion. Let me encourage you with these words that were written by a nine-year-old girl. She writes:

Dear Christian, I was very much looking forward to my life in this world. I wanted to have dolls, ride a bike, go to the circus and see the zoo. I looked forward to celebrating Christmas and receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. I’m very sad that I never got to do any of these things. My mommy did not let me be born. But I just have one question. Why didn’t any of you help me? I wish you had. No one heard my crying voice. From, an unborn baby.

My friends, you and I have heard those crying voices, and I am confident that we will respond. Thank you and God bless you.

Father Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life and a member of CUF's advisory council. He is a contrubutor to Lay Witness magazine.

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