Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus,the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament - St. Padre Pio
Ok, I'm going to say it. From a Catholic perspective, there seems to be a grave danger in some things that are happening regarding those who have had abortions and their healing.
I recently read an article where the writer states women who have had an abortion are “mothers who have lost their child”. Another organization compares abortion to miscarriage as if it were the same, (they both “lost” a baby). Then there are the attempts to destigmatize abortion just like those on the abortion side do, only coming from a prolife perspective. It appears that we are becoming desensitized to the reality of abortion thinking there is a need to do this to be compassionate to those who have had the experience.
In this quest to be compassionate the seriousness of the sin is being lost. I say this as someone who has had an abortion and has also worked with thousands of women who have had abortions over the last thirty years.
Of course, we are called to be a sign of God’s love and mercy to those suffering and invite them in for healing, but we must never forget, abortion is a grave sin. To truly heal, people need to acknowledge the sin. We are healed not by what we can do, or by watering down the truth, but by what Christ has done for us. The truth must be spoken, the truth of the evil of abortion and the truth of the mercy of God. This does not make the sin any less grave but in knowing the gravity makes the mercy of God even more unfathomable.
True compassion and love calls us to live in truth. God calls for contrition and humility in the quest for healing and in the case of Catholics this means acknowledging our sin and bringing it to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of MERCY!
It also means regularly partaking in the sacraments, so we receive the graces we need on our journey to healing. It means living in the humility of who we are and what we have done, and who Christ is and what He has done for us in His suffering, death, and resurrection. We are so blessed within the Catholic Church to have the true Presence of Jesus available to us in the Blessed Sacrament, always waiting for us, seeking us out to heal us.
We are God’s children, loved and having dignity and worth. Abortion is not who we are, but it is something we have done, having taken the life of an innocent unborn child. We are called to repentance. To do penance and amend our lives. "Go and sin no more."(John 8:11)
In not speaking the truth there is a danger of living in a level of denial or thinking somehow we can save ourselves. I recently saw an interview where, when speaking of those who have had abortions, it said, “there are a lot of people carrying the burden and self-imposed stigma of abortion.”
This “burden and stigma” could be the very thing that causes someone to seek out healing. A catalyst to repentance, not a false compassion to assist in the denial of the consequences of the evil of abortion. Yes, there is tremendous loss, grief, shame and guilt and people are culpable to different degrees, but abortion is a mortal sin, and the burden and stigma are a result of this serious sin, not a self-imposed state for no reason. Mortal sin separates us from God.
Thankfully, there is forgiveness and mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Christ longs to heal us. He waits for us. He wants to shower us
with His love, mercy, and forgiveness so, like the woman at the well, we will then want to let others who are suffering from abortion know, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him (. John 4:30)
While offering this Mercy freely given to us by God, we must also never minimize the gravity of the sin of abortion. In doing so, we take away the opportunity to confirm all the woman already knows in her heart. It also makes her deaf to the call to conversion and intimacy with God who loves us unconditionally. Our God who provides the things we need to truly heal, the sacraments, ministry, spiritual direction, or counseling, thus allowing us to understand the dynamics of abortion while growing in relationship with Him, and His love which makes us instruments of His great mercy and love for others.
This conversion leads us to a life of gratitude and thanksgiving, not because we are not sinners that just "lost" a baby, but because we are grave sinners who participated in the death of our children who have had an encounter with Christ Himself, who loves us, bestows His life on us in TRUTH, and gives us a newfound joy. That is true healing.
