Feast of the Holy Innocents

On this day the Church is honoring the innocent children slaughtered at Herod's hand, the martyrs who died for Christ without knowing of Him in this life. For a beautiful commentary, see today's reading at Universalis, a sermon of St Quodvultdeus.

But we, of course, also think of the holy innocents who are killed each day through abortion. St. Quodvultdeus wrote

"You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself"

and in these few, powerful words penetrates the core of "the issue." The issue, all too often, is fear. Fear often drives women to abortion: fear of one's own failure, fear of the responsibility of parenthood, fear of financial problems, fear of the father of the baby (do you know how many abortions are coerced? See links such as this article at The Eliot Institute .)

The woman considering abortion imagines that if she "accomplishes her desire" she can "prolong her own life" -- in other words, she believes, as Herod did, that removing the child from the picture will erase the problem. But the child, like Jesus, cannot simply be removed. Jesus is Life Himself. The child in the womb, so intimately connected to his mother (even to a mother who does not want to acknowledge the connection) is a connection to Life Himself. Removing the child does violence not only to the innocent baby's body but to the mother's relationship with Life Himself. She becomes a modern-day Herod, driven by a fear that destroys her heart.

A post-abortive woman, if she doesn't reject the act and repent, will sink deeper and deeper into a defense of it, to the point of irrationality. But, if she turns back to the Lord, He will restore her heart, her life and her connection with Life Himself. There is hope. There is healing. And all the saints in heaven, including the Holy Innocents, are praying for it.

For more on the aftermath of abortion, see The Eliot Institute, Rachel's Vineyard, Hope After Abortion, The National Office of PostAbortion Reconciliation and Healing, and Operation Outcry. Also, for a beautiful shrine dedicated to children who have died unborn, see The Shrine of the Holy Innocents and for a great blog see Emily and Annie's After Abortion.