~by Susi Pittman

The anniversary of Roe v. Wade always brings to mind the Redemptoris Mater, an encyclical written by Blessed Pope John Paul II, March 25, 1987, and one of my most favorites by any pope! (The second being the message for the World Day of Peace from our current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, If You Want To Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.

The encyclical on Mary is an extraordinary work by John Paul II delving into the role of Mary in the mystery of Christ and her presence in the life of the church.

If there was ever a pro-life thought to pause upon, it has to be this title for Mary. That the God and Creator of all that is, was and ever shall be would choose to visit salvation upon creation by first becoming flesh in the womb of Mary, is precedence for the sanctity of all human life.

The Omnipotent could have delivered this universe in any manner He chose, and yet, He chose to do so in the most intimate, vulnerable, astonishing humble way.

What greater moment, what greater intentional act could there be in all of human history, than THIS.

St. Thomas Aquinas stated: To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

You know that saying holds true in today’s fight to end abortion;

Those who see the Omnipotent and His intentional act, recognize the truth and love placed in the sanctity of human life in the womb.

To those that would oppose the right of the unborn, no act, explanation, or truth will ever suffice outside of their humanistic rationale.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things. Gospel of John: 3:12

To Mary, whom the Angel Gabriel hailed as “full of grace” …eternally present in the mystery of Jesus, blessed because she believed…ever present with us today…we close with this final thought:

From Blessed Pope John Paul II:

At the end of the daily Liturgy of the Hours, among the invocations addressed to Mary by the Church is the following:

“Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator!”

“To the wonderment of nature”! These words of the antiphon express that wonderment of faith which accompanies the mystery of Mary’s divine motherhood. In a sense, it does so in the heart of the whole of creation, and, directly, in the heart of the whole People of God, in the heart of the Church. How wonderfully far God has gone, the Creator and Lord of all things, in the “revelation of himself” to man! How clearly he has bridged all the spaces of that infinite “distance” which separates the Creator from the creature! If in himself he remains ineffable and unsearchable, still more ineffable and unsearchable is he in the reality of the Incarnation of the Word, who became man through the Virgin of Nazareth.”

May this world one day see an end to the genocide of abortion.

May Mary intercede for all the faithful prayers offered for this end.

May the peace of forgiveness and the healing love of heaven be upon all those whose hearts have repented of having an abortion.

May God’s mercy continue to build humankind in its desire to restore the moral compass of this country and of the world.

Peace, +

Susi

Susi Pittman is founder of CatholicStewardsofCreation.com and Owner-President of Twin Oaks Publishing; she is author of Animals in Heaven? Catholics Want to Know!; an advocate for the Florida Catholic Conference; a member of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Council of Women in Jacksonville, Florida; an Associate of the Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Augustine;a member of the Florida Publishers Association, Independent Book Publishers Association, the National Association of Professional Women, the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States and the National Audubon society.