“The Kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." Mk 1:14
Today we hear the
story of Nineveh, the sinful city that listened to Jonah’s warning and repented,
averting the threatened punishment they deserved. Jesus refers to this event
when he later says, “At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this
generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and
there is something greater than Jonah here.” That “something greater” is Jesus
Christ Himself, calling us to repentance.
This week, as we
mark the National Day of Remembrance for the Protection of the Unborn, we are
called to reflect on the collective sin of our nation, the legalized destruction
of over 60 million unborn children in the U.S. since the Roe V Wade decision in
1973. Every life lost leaves a rift in our world, every woman who experiences
abortion is left to face grief, regret, and trauma, and every law that sanctions
the destruction of the innocent casts a dark shadow over our nation.
In the Gospel,
Jesus calls His disciples away from their everyday work, and they respond by
“abandoning their nets and following Him.” While we may not all be called to
such a radical response, each of us can respond as the people of Nineveh
did, when “they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on
sackcloth.”
Beginning next month, thousands of people worldwide will respond
to God’s call for prayer, fasting and repentance by taking part in the 40 Days
for Life prayer campaign for an end to abortion. This movement seems to
beautifully fulfill St. John Paul’s call in Evangelium
Vitae for “a great prayer for life… which will rise up throughout the
world… from every Christian community… and from the heart of every believer.
Jesus himself has shown us… that prayer and fasting are the first and most
effective weapons against the forces of evil… Let us therefore discover anew
the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that power from on high will
break down the walls of lies and deceit… which are hostile to life.” Let us
each, great and small, be a part of this great prayer for life.
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