Wednesday of the
Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Corinthians 3:4-11; Matthew 5:17-19)
It is surely a credit to pro-life advocates that they can
see in an infinitesimal human embryo a human being. What gives them confidence, of course, is the
knowledge that the embryo has all the life-producing information and dynamism
to grow into a vivacious person. St. Paul
Paul acknowledges the inherent superiority of Christianity
to Judaism because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Although we have to recognize the Spirit’s
role in Jewish prophecy, we should see along with Paul its activity in the
lives of Christians as the essential difference in their morality. Where Judaism depends on a code of law to keep
people in line, Christianity looks to the grace of the Spirit. Christians also have a written law. The Sermon on the Mount, which incorporates
much of Jewish law, provides that. But
what is quintessential about Christian life is that this law is everywhere
activated by the Spirit of love.
We may see this Spirit at work in many pro-life
workers. Some stand voluntarily on
sidewalks in front of abortion clinics day after day. They are sometimes described as yelling at
women about to have an abortion, but this kind of behavior is not the
rule. Rather, their love shines through
as they pray for the fetus about to be annihilated and gently try to persuade
the mother that there is help readily available for her to care for her baby.
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