By Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life

This year's holiday season brought some added attention to a Christmas card produced by the nation's largest single abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.

The message of the card? "Choice on Earth."

Planned Parenthood advertises the card as containing "an inclusive seasonal message." Inclusive for everyone, of course, except the unborn child, who is destroyed by the so-called "choice" that Planned Parenthood defends.

But, of course, Planned Parenthood is not ashamed. In fact, when their card was called anti-Christian, they responded by adding a "Choice on Earth" T-shirt to their line of products.

Added to this, some who call themselves ministers of the Gospel preached their seasonal message by claiming that Jesus would not have been against the "choice" of a woman regarding whether or not to continue her pregnancy. You may be aware that there is a "Clergy for Choice Network" operated by the "Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice."

My comment on all of this is that it should not surprise us in the least. The essence of the abortion mentality is not to deny that the unborn child is a child. Rather, it is that we take the place of God. It is the idea that what I choose is right, not because the thing I choose is good, but rather because I choose. Choice is more important than life, and my choice takes the place of God Himself. Hence, clergy preach "choice" and the message of Christ becomes "choice on earth."

Ultimately, human beings have to feel like they are in line with God. Therefore, if they do not change their lives to conform to God's will, they will change their very concept of God to conform to their own will. That's what the "Choice on Earth" cards demonstrate.

The notion that Christ does not have a problem with the choice to destroy an unborn child turns the Gospel inside out. By giving His life for us, Christ teaches the essence of love: I sacrifice myself for the good of the other person. Abortion teaches exactly the opposite message: I sacrifice the other person for the good of myself.

Jesus, furthermore, broke down false barriers that placed people in "higher" and "lower" social and spiritual categories. He ate with tax collectors and sinners when the common wisdom was to avoid them. He sought out the lepers when the custom was to stay away from them. He called the children to come to Him, when the apostles thought that the right thing to do was to chase them away. He gave the Samaritan woman the gift of salvation, breaking through barriers that put both Samaritans and women on a lower level.

Does it make sense, then, that the Lord permits the false barrier between the born and the unborn, and does not mind the discrimination by which the unborn are considered disposable non-persons?

God is a God of justice -- in other words, He saves the helpless. And He expects us to do no less. That's peace on earth.

Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314;
Tel: 888- PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515;
email: mail@priestsforlife.org
web: www.priestsforlife.org

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