“To foreigners this Europe seems to be tired, indeed, it seems to be wishing to take its leave of history....Contemporary man is insecure about the future. Is it permissible to send someone into this uncertain future? In short, is it a good thing to be a person? This deep lack of self-assurance — plus the wish to have one’s whole life for oneself — is perhaps the deepest reason why the risk of having children appears to many to be almost unsustainable....Unless we learn anew the foundations of life—unless we discover in a new way the certainty of faith—it will be less and less possible for us to entrust to others the gift of life and the task of an unknown future.” Pope Benedict XVI 2006
In our centre we see exactly this mentality playing out in the lives of the men and women we see each week. “Is it a good thing to be a person?” – those we see often argue that it is not a good thing. That their lives have been filled with pain, brokenness and sorrow. Even those who are materially well-off consider the world and the future a dismal place to bring this unplanned, “unwanted” child. It is enlightening to see how often their own brokenness stems from contraception, marriage breakdown and “sexual liberation” in their own family backgrounds.
Faith in God also means faith in the future; that if God sends new life into the world He can also find space in this broken world to fill those lives with meaning and hope.
Our first job then is to give these women hope. We cannot give them hope if we don’t have hope ourselves. We cannot have hope without faith. Faith and hope go hand in hand with another virtue, Charity – or loving kindness.
To counteract the contraceptive mentality we have to offer assistance in all charity, share our hope and ground all of this in faith in Christ.
If we are not prepared to believe in the Mothers and Children of tomorrow, by reaching out our hands in charity, opening our door to the destitute mother and sharing our faith with those without any faith in themselves and giving real hope to those in despair, we cannot hope to change our culture and end abortion.
Is it good to be? If it is let's witness to that goodness by offering a real life to Mothers in need.
In our centre we see exactly this mentality playing out in the lives of the men and women we see each week. “Is it a good thing to be a person?” – those we see often argue that it is not a good thing. That their lives have been filled with pain, brokenness and sorrow. Even those who are materially well-off consider the world and the future a dismal place to bring this unplanned, “unwanted” child. It is enlightening to see how often their own brokenness stems from contraception, marriage breakdown and “sexual liberation” in their own family backgrounds.
Faith in God also means faith in the future; that if God sends new life into the world He can also find space in this broken world to fill those lives with meaning and hope.
Our first job then is to give these women hope. We cannot give them hope if we don’t have hope ourselves. We cannot have hope without faith. Faith and hope go hand in hand with another virtue, Charity – or loving kindness.
To counteract the contraceptive mentality we have to offer assistance in all charity, share our hope and ground all of this in faith in Christ.
If we are not prepared to believe in the Mothers and Children of tomorrow, by reaching out our hands in charity, opening our door to the destitute mother and sharing our faith with those without any faith in themselves and giving real hope to those in despair, we cannot hope to change our culture and end abortion.
Is it good to be? If it is let's witness to that goodness by offering a real life to Mothers in need.
Clare McCullough
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