Why Is This So Hard to Understand?

October 20, 2021

Fr. John Riccardo
 
Try to imagine the following scenario, if you can. 
 
The parish is gathered on Sunday morning for Mass and, after the proclamation of the Gospel, I begin my homily with these words: “Brothers and sisters, it has come to my attention that Fr. X (an associate pastor at our parish) has been sexually abusing some of the children in the school.” Immediately, faces flash everything from shock to anger to everything in between. But it gets worse. I then go on to say, “Now, let me make this abundantly clear. I am personally opposed to this kind of behavior, but I don’t know how I can impose my own views on Fr. X.”
 
This is simply ludicrous, isn’t it? Can anyone possibly imagine me, or any other priest, publicly saying something like this from the pulpit? Not only would there be outraged emails, phone calls, and letters to various media outlets, no one would remain a member of that parish. No one would even stay for the remainder of Mass.
 
That most painful and unimaginable scenario has been a helpful one for me in trying to think about how to talk about human dignity, in general, and about the dignity of the unborn human being, in particular. In these days God has chosen for us to be alive, there seems to be very little if any reasoned, calm discussion about—well, almost anything, I’m afraid, and certainly not with regards to the issue that is the unborn human being and the topic of abortion. All too often we have heard leaders at various levels of government say things like me in the imagined scene from the pulpit, “I’m personally opposed to this, but…”
 
At the risk of sounding cruel for a moment, why should anybody care about the plight of immigrants, or the poor, or the sick, or the elderly, or about anyone else for that matter? Isn’t it simply because they’re human and they are entitled to dignity? That’s why we should be concerned with every human being, wherever we find them. 
 
Why does all of this suddenly change when it comes to the unborn human being? After all, science (not the Bible, or The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the pope) clearly tells us that from the moment of conception we are dealing with a human being here.
 
Isn’t this a simple “either…or…” matter? “Either all human beings are persons and therefore have rights, or only some human beings are persons and therefore have rights.” If only some human beings are persons, and therefore have rights, who are the ones to whom we have given that kind of power, and what criteria do they use? Skin color? Sex? Socio-economic class? Whatever the criteria used it must be arbitrary. Which world would you want to live in: the one where all human beings are considered human and given rights, or the one where only some are? 
 
On December 1, the United States Supreme Court is going to hear Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health. At stake is whether or not the Court will overturn Roe v. Wade (and Casey v. Planned Parenthood) or not. No matter the outcome, the ruling will be seismic. As disciples of Jesus, let us be deliberate in our daily prayers (and perhaps weekly fasting) not simply that the Justices will be guided by reason and rational thought and logic, but for the ongoing conversion of all those in positions of authority in the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of our government. May the Lord enlighten their minds, and ours, to think clearly about the human being and human dignity. And let us also pray that we will keep in mind the convicting words of C.S. Lewis: