"What Did You Do to Stop the Silent Holocaust?" January 21, 2022

What Did You Do to Stop the Silent Holocaust?

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed tomorrow as a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. 

Abortion has been around a long time. It was forbidden in the Hippocratic Oath, 400 years before Christ. In this country, it was a contentious issue around the Civil War. And since Roe v. Wade, abortion has become status quo, acceptable, politically correct; you can even pay for it with your Visa Card. And there is a real danger that we, as Christians, as Catholics, are becoming indifferent and callous, acting like we don't really care. Maybe sometimes we just grow weary of hearing about it. 

This attitude reminds us of World War II when the Allies were liberating the Nazi death camps in Europe. As every camp was taken, Dwight Eisenhower insisted that the local German people living nearby be forced to walk through the barbed wire. He made them witness the horror; see the piles of unburied corpses. Smell the stench of cremated flesh!  And you know what was surprising? In most cases there was no sign of remorse. "It didn't concern me. It was a military matter. It was none of my business." Six million Jews gassed in your own backyard and it's none of your business? Thousands of children aborted each year, and its none of our business...? 

You know, each week in the Creed, we profess a belief that at the end of our life we will stand before God for judgment. And I believe beyond a doubt that Jesus will ask each of us the same question, "What did you say, what did you do, to stop the slaughter of abortion? What action did you take to protect the precious gift of life? What did you do to stop the silent holocaust? 

Tomorrow, the Bishops are asking the faithful to offer prayers and acts of reparation for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.
Christians are asked to examine their consciences regarding their own responsibility for a culture that so often meets the needs of women, children, and families with a hardened heart. What have we done or failed to do to contribute to a culture where human life is so often treated with contempt or indifference? Human life is most vulnerable at its earliest stages and if life has little value at this stage, what real value will it have at later stages? Is human life only valuable to us when it is healthy? Affluent? Independent? Is human life only valuable to us when it is a commodity, when it is convenient?

An examination of conscience is not only meant to engender in us sorrow for sin but also a desire to live differently. How will each of us live differently so that we might manifest for others respect for the dignity of every person, from the moment of their conception until natural death? In what ways will this parish offer concrete assistance to those who are in need, those who care for those who are vulnerable? What will inevitably be asked of us will be more than just a monetary contribution to a cause, but direct and immediate assistance to people in need. When that opportunity presents itself, will this parish be ready? Better said, how will this parish prepare itself to seek out those who are vulnerable and offer them the help that they need and do so without hesitation or complaint?

Christians cannot withdraw from their responsibility in regard to participating in the culture. Christ insists that we are his lights, and often it is only our light that holds the darkness at bay. A culture of death can only be countered by a living, active, public culture of life.
The transformation of culture often begins, not with grandiose speeches or political strategies- these types of things are usually swallowed up and rendered ineffectual by bureaucracy and ideological posturing. Instead, the transformation of culture commences with the demand of love being fulfilled in the immediacy of the circumstances of life. Sacrifices made on behalf of kindness and love. Vulnerable life is not protected simply by statements, but by our will to love those who need our help. Someone needs your help, if you they cannot find you, you go out and find them.

Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School