Theresa Bonapartis
“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus”, St John Paul II.
You can call me post-abortive. I am secure in both my healing and my relationship with God to know that my abortion is something I did, not who I am, but I am a woman living ‘post’ an abortion experience.
Abortion does not define me. I know I am a child of God. I know He loves me and forgives me, and I have dignity and worth, yet, it certainly is the one thing that has impacted my life more than any other. I am living ‘post-abortion’, and that major life event has influenced many other aspects of life like no other. Sometimes it still does, even in the present moment, and that is okay.
Trust
I trust in His perfect will.
Does that mean I am not healed? No. It just means it is a wound that I will carry with me to Heaven. A wound that still sometimes gets in the way of how I think and act in the present, making me pause to be sure my reactions are not from the trauma of abortion I experienced in the past.
God accepts me where I am in every moment. In the good moments and the bad. In the joys, the sorrows, and in the sufferings, He allows me to experience. One striking aspect for me is the deep pain of abandonment reflecting my abortion experience of being kicked out of my family because I was pregnant. A time when I needed them most.
Perhaps God allows this so I will never forget my need of Him or that He never abandoned me but is always there waiting for me in that place of pain when it comes up. Can He take it away? Of course He can. But if it is His will for me to have it pop up now and again, I trust it is for my good. A reminder that I am healed because of Him and what He has done, not anything I have or can do. A dependence on Him and His will, and even a place of our deepest intimacy.
For many of us who have experienced abortion, dependence can be a difficult feat. Lost in the trauma of our experiences many women come out of it not wanting to have to need anyone, even God.
Self-reliance
But that is not healing, that is self-reliance, instead of depending on the One who saves us. The One who experienced total abandonment on the cross so that we can find Him there in the nothingness of our own abandonment.
In the end, it is important to recognise that the trauma of abortion is something that will probably stay with you all your life to some degree. That does not mean you do not have dignity or worth – any more than meditating on the Passion of Christ or looking at His wounds takes away His dignity.
I have witnessed countless miracles of God’s mercy”
“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus”, Pope John Paul II. Yes, I am not the sum of my weakness and failures, including my abortion but it is certainly in the equation that brings me to the sum of the Father’s love for me so I can become the image of Jesus.
Sometimes that image may be on the cross, wounded and bloody, the place of His total abandonment and the place of our redemption.
Ministry
Over twenty five years ago I developed a ministry of healing with The Sisters of Life named ‘Entering Canaan’, conducting Days of Prayer and Healing and weekend retreats for those suffering the trauma of abortion (see www.enteringcanaan.com). I am grateful, and blessed that through it, I have witnessed countless miracles of God’s mercy. He waits and longs for us for us in His love. He is Mercy Itself! A video testimony is at www.tiny.cc/TBVIDEO.
Our main duty
Elizabeth Scalia
“You are not being asked to be anything other than human…”
That was uttered by a colleague during a meeting. It was a mere aside to the room, but my lectio-antenna prompted me to write down the words before I lost them, for the truth seemed almost unbearably poignant in its plainness – so simple that we routinely miss it, as we do with most heavenly pleas. It hit me with the same sorrowful simplicity as Jesus’ lament to Jerusalem, “How often have I longed to gather your children together,” (Mt 23:37) or the watchful ache of Eleanor Rigby’s “Ah, look at all the lonely people.”
True to my antenna, the words have echoed through my brain, and informed my prayer lists, acting like an acid or a cleansing agent dissolving so many newsy distractions down to this stark reality: You are not being asked to be anything other than human.
The mercy of God
Fr John Catoir
The most important concept to remember when you’re studying Scripture is this: The New Testament is not the Old Testament. That’s an important distinction for any child of God to remember.
The literal depiction of God in the Old Testament can indeed be frightening. People living in primitive times often thought that every cruelty of nature was a form of direct punishment from God. Jesus, however, brought mitigating words of mercy, as he taught us about God’s love. We must also remember that God’s mercy also is revealed in the Old Testament.
Remember that the words, ‘Do not be afraid’, and similar phrases of comfort, are repeated hundreds of times in the Bible. Jesus taught us to interpret sacred Scripture with mercy. We must never forget that God is love and that justice must always be tempered with mercy.
Fear is not a bad thing. We need to respect God’s almighty power. He is after all a God of justice, and life is consequential. But love is the central message of the Gospel.