A Precious Gift

Gospel Reflection for Thursday December 21, 2023

Leonardo da Vinci / Wikimedia Commons

Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."

-Lk 1:39-45

Today’s Mass Readings are celebratory. We begin to feel the true presence of our Lord who is already affecting those around Him. As an unborn child, or a fetus as the Left likes to call babies before they are born, the power and presence of Jesus was already evident. This is true for every child. The child in the womb is fully alive, fully human, already sharing a relationship of love with his or her parents and making his or her presence felt in the world. Sometimes it even seems like infants in the womb are more active than when they are first born, as new-borns tend to sleep a lot. Sometimes you can get a sense of their personality then that will really become evident when they are toddlers.

It should not even be a question for anyone that an unborn child is fully alive and fully human. But for the Christian, it takes an active choice of will to deny this fact. We not only have our senses and personal experience to inform us, but the teachings of the Church and the words of the Bible that tell us that God knows each of us, individually, “in the womb.” Unfortunately, even knowing that a baby which may be born, survive and grow into a healthy child if delivered prematurely, many who call themselves Catholic still advocate for the killing of this child through abortion… denying it is a child.

My message for today is short and simple. Every child is a precious gift, full of infinite potential. The circumstances of their conception do not alter the value of the individual. Abortion is an abdominal evil and every Christian has a religious and moral duty to oppose it. You can be a faithful Christian or you can support legal abortion. You cannot be or do both. Next year, we go to the polls here in America. There is only one question that matters in choosing a candidate or a party; all other issues are subservient. It is a grave sin to vote for or support any political candidate who advocates for legal abortion. Choose life!

Christmas is a time in which we especially celebrate children. Let’s remember this all year.

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Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January-June, 2024. It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic