In "Give War a Chance," P.J. O'Rourke wrote, "No one is fond of taking responsibility for his actions, but consider how much you'd have to hate free will to come up with the political platform that advocates killing unborn babies but not convicted murderers. A callous pragmatist might favor abortion and capital punishment. A devout Christian would sanction neither. But it takes years of therapy to arrive at the liberal point of view."
On November 7, voters in Ohio passed a state constitutional amendment enshrining abortion up to birth. The canary in the coal mine was during the pandemic when abortion clinics were allowed to be open and churches had to be shut. It was a case of child sacrifice over the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the worship of Baal over Protestant preaching and the Bible. It's no surprise pot legalization also passed. The therapeutic state has made us all libertines. Surgery, pills, and drugs will usher us into the brave new world of meaningless lives until the state and insurance companies step in to entice us to "mercifully" kill ourselves to save them money.
All this falls under the heading that you can learn things the easy way or the hard way. Consider these words of Blessed Michael Sopocko, spiritual director of Sister Faustina Kowalska in 1930s Poland, “[B]etween the First and Second World Wars, the city of Warsaw, which as the capital of Poland, was also one of the great capitals of abortion in the world!” He was responding to Faustina's diary entry, "… I saw this sign of divine wrath which was about to strike the earth and in particular a certain place [Warsaw]." Asked why, she said, "‘For the massacre of infants not yet born — the most grievous crime of all.’”
On September 16, 1937, Faustina wrote in her diary: "I wanted very much to make a Holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament today. But God’s will was otherwise. At eight o’clock, I was seized with such violent pains that I had to go to bed at once. I was convulsed with pain for three hours...At times, the pains caused me to lose consciousness. Jesus had me realize that ...He Himself allowed these sufferings in order to offer reparation to God for the souls murdered in the wombs of wicked mothers...The doctors couldn’t get to the bottom of it...I understand the nature of these pains, because the Lord himself has made this known to me... What it pleases God to send, I will accept with submission and love. If only I could save even one soul from murder by means of these sufferings! On the next day...I can feel the condition souls are in and their attitude to God; I'm full of true understanding."
Faustina died at the age of 33, shortly before the Nazi invasion, but her devotion to the Divine Mercy image and message as a path to reconciling Man to God through trust spread through the concentration camps and from there around the world.
How much worse is what Ohio has done? As a theologian friend wrote, "Those who voted 'yes' made themselves a girder in the legal bridge that will allow the killing of unborn human beings. Every woman who walks over it to abort her child will be able to do so because of the *formal moral cooperation* of the voter; since without their vote it would be impossible. Unlike Roe v Wade, there is no blaming the Supreme Court, nor the Congress, nor the legislature, and unlike the 1930s German who could blame Hitler's Reichstag, and the Russian who could blame the Soviet Duma, the citizen of Ohio who checked 'Yes' has no one to blame for the evils which result. The woman, at least, will likely have mitigating circumstances, not so someone who with a clear mind and free will voted 'yes.' If you are a Catholic, at least recognize the evil of what you have done and go to Confession!"
In one sense, abortion is its own punishment. The mother loses her child, and society loses its citizens. Think of the damage done to our country by all the armed services members lost in war and then multiply it by the millions killed with government sanction through legal abortion. It is an unforced error, a self-inflicted wound. And unless repented of, guilt will out.
RELATED: Post Election Reminder: Abortion Is Still Murder
Burdened with guilt and the desire to justify what they have done, it may be no surprise so many voted to invite others to share in their misery and barrenness. Misery truly loves company. Also, it is no surprise that people also voted to drug themselves up with pot. What better way to silence your conscience? What better way to disable your mind from thinking disturbing thoughts? To allow you to forget how fear, self-interest, or self-loathing caused you to fly from compassion and responsibility.
St. Augustine has been called the first modern man. He wrote the first autobiography 1600 years ago and said of his own lapses in moral judgment, "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee.” He who was no saint followed the path of restlessness and misery until, pursued by a merciful God, he turned himself heavenward. Will Ohio turn back? Will it decide to choose Mercy over violence, trust in God over the therapeutic culture of death? The still, small voice of conscience over self-destruction? Mercy is always at hand for those who reach out for it. For the sake of the preborn children whose lives are at risk, let us hope Ohio changes course soon.
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