Being Open to Life

I was recently reflecting about the "openness to life" that our faith calls married couples to.  I realize that this can be a hot topic for many faithful Catholics regarding when/why using Natural Family Planning is morally acceptable. Nevertheless, this debate is not my focus.  Instead I found myself reflecting on the annunciation.

These days it seems as though there are many more "reasons" NOT to have children than ever.  For example, society says that simply being a "newlywed" qualifies couples to refrain from openness to life.  For some newlyweds the adjustment to marriage may constitute a serious reason to postpone children, but this (and other grave factors) are not what I am referring to.  Isn't it odd that babies who arrive 9 months after a honeymoon are suprising (and few) nowadays?  Society tells us to take two, five, ten years to get to know each other, buy a home, travel ect... and then we can start thinking about "trying".  Perhaps it is not the children who should be postponed, but rather the wedding date!

When we examine Mary's situation from our own cultural perspective, we realize that she had every reason not to be open to life.  She was barely a teenager, very poor and unmarried.   If you consider the world she lived in, these reasons could constitute even more graveness than they would today.  There was no Medicaid, no crisis pregnancy centers or shelters, and adultery could be punished by death.  Despite this however, Mary said YES to life.  It is through her YES, her fiat, that Jesus our salvation, came into the world.  Moreover, it might be also be fair to point out that God only asked Mary to be receptive to a child once in her life.  God's will for the Holy Family was to always remain a home of three.  This is also a reminder for us as Catholics, that a marriage that is open-to-life will not always fill a twelve-passenger van.

There are many wonderful Church documents such as Humanae Vitae and the Catechism of the Church that can help us understand the Church's teaching on Christian marriages.  Ultimately, husbands and wives must always pray to follow Mary's example of "thy will be done".  Only He knows what is best for our marriages and families.  It is by following God's will that we can work to build a culture of life... and what is more beautiful than that?

Pro-Life Resources

We all know how challenging it can be to find a good doctor these days, especially when it comes to pro-life issues. Here are a couple of resources that may be helpful:

http://www.omsoul.com (One More Soul)
http://www.aaplog.org (Pro-Life OB/GYNs)

Both sites allow you to search for doctors in your area.

Pro-Life Ad to be Aired during American Idol

After being rejected from airing an ad during this past Superbowl, Catholicvote.org has persisted and created a new pro-life ad to be aired during the American Idol season finale. Let's pray that its message has an impact on viewers.

Are we really pro-life?

I took my little 6-month niece/goddaughter to Mass with me on Sunday evening. I look very young and I am not married so do not wear a ring on my finger. I kept noticing throughout the church people looking at me with a look of disappointment and concern. As soon as I noticed they were staring at me they would awkwardly smile. I quickly realized that they probably thought my niece was my daughter and I was a single mom. Because I look so young they probably thought I was a teen/early 20's single mom. All these people apparently were disappointed with me. How pro-life is that? We tell girls to carry their babies to term but then we give them dirty looks for doing so. We need to do everything we can to encourage people to practice abstinence until marriage but if they do not and a young girls gets pregnant we MUST shower her with love and support. We need to honor her and celebrate her for not making another terrible decision. Then we need to encourage her to change her sexual behaviors. I understand now why so many girls feel pressured to have an abortion. If we are going to be pro-life, we need to be pro-life all the way and support girls who choose life, no matter what their situation.

Abortion Extremism

For those of you who may disagree with me, don't worry I am not a U.S. citizen yet, and will not have the right to vote during the next elections. I do feel a responsibility as a Catholic however, to bring up a very concerning issue about one of our presidential candidates.

This following article -- Obama's Abortion Extremism may seem extreme at first, but as I read on, all evidence was supported and accurate, and the author brings up several very good points.

"Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress."

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily get butterflies or warm fuzzies when I think about John McCain, but the question we really need to ask ourselves is: Who is Jesus? What does He want? Ultimately, we should think about these questions before we make any action throughout our day. There is no doubt that a national election vote is a grave decision that should be given much thought and prayer. Please read the article I posted above, and spend some time meditating what Jesus is calling you to do during these approaching elections. May God bless America and its future generations.