Preaching on abortion, 26th Sunday, Year B, Pro-Life Leader Frank Pavone of Priests for Life

Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, reflects on the Sunday readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B and their message about abortion.
To find pro-life reflections on the readings for all the Sundays of the year, go to www.PreachingO..., where you can also order his book, Proclaiming the Message of Life.
Readings
Nm 11:25-29
Jas 5:1-6
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
The Word of God calls us to have a “non-territorial” attitude. Today’s First Reading and Gospel passage both illustrate that if the Lord has given us a mission, we should rejoice when we find others doing the same mission, rather than having a “turf war” with them. This applies to ministries throughout the Church, and in reference to the pro-life mission, Pope St. John Paul II addressed this point in “The Gospel of Life” when he declared, “No single person or group has a monopoly on the defense and promotion of life. These are everyone's task and responsibility. On the eve of the Third Millennium, the challenge facing us is an arduous one: only the concerted efforts of all those who believe in the value of life can prevent a setback of unforeseeable consequences for civilization” (n. 91).
In regard to that Pro-life mission, furthermore, the second part of today’s Gospel passage represents one of the rationales by which we call people to great sacrifice to protect and preserve life, whether of the unborn, the terminally ill and disabled, or anyone else. To directly take the life of another innocent person is to commit the kind of offense against God that the Lord commands us to avoid at all costs. In the case of abortion, it may not be one’s hand or eye that leads to sin, but rather one’s friends or other relationships. What young, scared, pregnant mothers fear they will lose by choosing life is usually far less than they imagine. But whatever the cost, when faced with making a sacrifice or sacrificing another, the Lord clearly tells us the right road.

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Thank you for all you do in defense of the pre-born. You carry a bright, anointed light in this dark, broken world.