Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

Not many daughters can claim that their mother is a canonized saint, but Laura Molla can. To many, it seems absurd and maybe even stupid that a woman would choose death over the abortion of her unborn child, but Saint Gianna Beretta Molla did just that. To be sure, it would have been understandable if Jesus had hated the people who crucified him, but the fact that Jesus died for sinful people and forgave his executors is proof that he is God. It would have been understandable if Gianna had agreed to the abortion seeing that her life was in grave danger, but the fact that she didn't proves that she was and is a saint. Saint Gianna was obedient to Christ to the end. Because of her mother's sacrificial love, Laura Molla lives. 


Read article here: Saint's daughter hopes to follow her mother's example of loving life

It is good to be alive because God exists!!!

In the book Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, the king of Brobdingdang, a nation made up of giants, “observed how contemptible a thing was human grandeur, which could be mimicked by such diminutive insects as [Gulliver]: And yet, said he, I dare engage, these creatures have their titles and distinctions of honour; they contrive little nests and burrows, that they call houses and cities.”

Among these giants, suddenly Gulliver’s accomplishments are not so grand. He is angered and offended by the king’s comments, but in a way, the king is right. We are not as important as we think we are. We and everything around us are ephemeral, “a mere handbreath” (Psalm 39:5). Why is it that we place so much emphasis on what does not last, but ignore God who lasts forever? The Bible, especially the Old Testament, reminds man of who he really is.

Nowhere is this more emphasized than in the book of Ecclesiastes. Ignored by pastors and priests for its seemingly depressing message, Ecclesiastes is yet one of my favorite books in the Bible. Qoheleth, the leader of a religious assembly, starts this work with a bold and shocking exclamation: “ ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!’ What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-4). The Teacher poses a very important question. What he is asking, of course, is what millions of people in the world ask themselves daily. Mainly, what is the meaning of life? What is the reason for my existence, and why is that important?

At first glance, Ecclesiastes’ message seems to echo Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy of Existentialism. Life is meaningless. Yet Sartre and Qoheleth come to very different conclusions. Sartre decides that “l’existence précède l'essence” (existence precedes essence). In other words, apart from ourselves, there is no meaning to life. We must create our own meaning to life. Sartre points out that when we first realize how insignificant we are, we fall into deep despair. This nausea, as he calls this emotional state, pervades our whole being until we come to terms with it and decide to make our own meaning to life. Notice that God does not exist. The Teacher experiences this nausea as well when he writes, “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (2:17). In fact, he even sounds a bit suicidal when he says, “And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun” (4:2-3).

But Qoheleth eventually discovers the reason for his existence. It is because of God that we are living and because of Him— and only because of Him—that we can continue to live. Everything on earth, which is in fact temporary, is yet a gift from God. Because it is a gift from God, we are allowed to enjoy it. “So I commended the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun” (8:15). Qoheleth overcomes the nausea by acknowledging God and allowing Him to bring meaning to his life. Because of God, Qoheleth has been given a duty and his actions do matter. Suddenly, life is good—very good. It is a gift in fact. However, although our actions matter, they do not define us. Now, the unborn, the handicapped, and the elderly have a place in society, and they are actually living. Life has meaning apart from themselves. We must continue to recognize our dependence on God, because, yes, apart from God there is NO ultimate meaning to life. Because we place our full trust in God, we recognize that all good things come from Him, and thus, there is no place for pride in our lives. We do not need to continue to put our full and complete trust in our own works and in our material possessions that do not last. Becuase of this realization, the Teacher takes back his previous view on life. “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” (9:4). It is good to be alive because God exists!!! Sartre, on the other hand, argues that without continuous action a person is not living. Life is only good if you actually have the ability to make choices, and even then, there is nothing constant in our lives to protect us, love us, and give us peace.

Christians Must Be Pro-Life

If I randomly murdered a man on the street I would rightly be considered a murderer and be imprisoned. I do not have the right to kill that man. What right does a woman have to kill her baby? A woman's, like a man's, rights stop with her life. As a feminist I find the pro-choice movement so hypocritical. In China and India, the majority of aborted children are women. The pro-choice feminist movement supports the killing of women. Interesting.

But what if the child is not "normal?" During WWII, the Nazis in Germany tried to create the perfect race, and to this day there are scientists in South Korea that are trying to create the perfect beings through cloning. Now I hope that you believe as I do that that is wrong. So, why are we doing the same thing with the unborn? When a woman is pregnant with a child with down's syndrome we council her to abort it. When a woman is pregnant with a baby who is physically or mentally challenged we want her to kill her child because of course that child could never be a part of our "perfect" society. I heard this awesome speech from this twelve year old girl, in which she mentioned the fact that we have handicapped parking and the Special Olympics and we talk about how inspiring these people are to us, but when a woman has conceived one of these same people we want her to abort it. Notice the hypocrisy.

Women do have choices. They have the choice to not have sex, or to protect themselves, and even if they are raped there should be support groups out there to prevent them from killing a person. We must of course love these women, and we will be showing them our love when we support them in keeping their babies.

My pastor said that women traditionally killed themselves in horrible ways to abort their children and that legalized abortion is better. But when we legalize something this means that we support it. Suicide is one of the leading causes of teen death in this country, and we would certainly never support that. We would want to help them not kill themselves. Just because people do something it does not mean that action is right. This is what Jesus teaches us. As a church we must stand up for what is right even if others around us don't. We must be a group of loving people who give women another option. The pro-choice movement says that women have a choice but they really don't. They are often pressured into abortion and are often not even really given another option. When a woman is in this state of mind, she can't think clearly. Churches are to prevent bad things from happening in the world. Of course, we must support orphans and mothers, and this is exactly what I desire most. Churches must be support groups for prostitutes and addicts and sucidal people and murderers and women considering an abortion. The majority of women who have an abortion regret it. The emotional and physical pains that these women feel are hardly ever mentioned, but they are real. Some women, after having an abortion, can't have children ever again.

After all, when does a person really start becoming a person? Right now, pro-choice men and women say: at birth. But there are partial birth abortions done every day and six month old fetuses could live outside of the womb. Pre-mature babies are born everyday. Is a person someone who walks and talks? So are the mentally and physically handicapped not people? Are elderly with Alzheimer's disease not people? When is a person a person then?

"From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you" (Psalm 71:6 NIV).

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139: 13-16).

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).

Life starts at conception. Period.