As we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary this past Saturday, my thoughts and prayers were focused on what had transpired the day before, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, thus sending back to the states the ability to decide the question of abortion for themselves. By doing so, immediately the lives of pre-born children began to be saved and the gift of motherhood upheld.
This tremendous moment in the history of our nation came when the Church reflects on the meaning of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Heart of Jesus is the source of life and grace for all people. This Sacred Heart that was pierced as Jesus hung lifeless on the Cross becomes the wellspring of eternal life and merciful love for all people.
But where did this Sacred Heart of Jesus take flesh? Where did His plan of salvation take shape? It was beneath the Immaculate Heart of His Mother Mary. Pope St. John Paul II in his first encyclical letter, Redemptoris Hominis (The Redeemer of Man, 1979), taught this:
We can say that the mystery of the Redemption took shape beneath the heart of the Virgin of Nazareth when she pronounced her “fiat.” From then on, under the special influence of the Holy Spirit, this heart, the heart of both a virgin and a mother, has always followed the work of her Son and has gone out to all those whom Christ has embraced and continues to embrace with inexhaustible love. For that reason her heart must also have the inexhaustibility of a mother. The special characteristic of the mystery of the Redemption and the life of the Church finds expression in its exceptional closeness to man and all that happens to him (RH #22).
The humanity of the Redeemer and the mystery of His redeeming love began beneath the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin when she embraced motherhood conceiving and carrying a child in very difficult circumstances. It is no wonder that this heralding of a new day for the protection of unborn life and the restoration of the dignity of mothers was proclaimed when the Church celebrates the Feasts of the Hearts of the Son and His Mother.
What then are we called to do in this post Roe vs. Wade world? We are called to protect the lives of unborn children and to come to the aid of mothers, especially those in trying and painful situations. Salvation came into the world because the Virgin Mother accepted the life of her Divine Child. We must shoulder the responsibility of promoting a culture of life and love. We must boldly proclaim the dignity and worth of every human life and do everything we can to ensure that every child conceived will be born and loved. We must pledge ourselves to do everything we can to support and provide for all mothers in need. For under their hearts, God’s plan for new life and future generations begins.
From earliest times, the Church has proclaimed that the lives of unborn children and of those newly unborn may never be taken. Each is a precious gift from God. All human life, created in God’s image and likeness, is sacred. This is the foundation of a culture of life and a civilization of love.
Much work and witness lies before us. Following the designs of mercy that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary have for us and for all people, we go forth with love for mothers and their children. We carry on, boldly proclaiming the Gospel of Life. With the grace of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and under the patronage of the Immaculate Heart of His Mother, we will transform a world of violence and destruction of life into a world where human life will be protected, cherished and loved.
Pope Francis, during his 2017 visit to Fatima when he canonized the innocent, young seers who saw Our Lady in 1917, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, said in his homily,
Dear pilgrims, we have a Mother. Clinging to her like children, we live in the hope that rests on Jesus… When Jesus ascended into heaven, he brought to the Heavenly Father our humanity, which he assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary and will never forsake. Like an anchor, let us fix our hope on that humanity seated at the right hand of the Father (cf. Eph 2:6). May this hope guide our lives. It is a hope that sustains us always, to our dying breath.
We place all of our trust and hope in Jess whose heart was conceived beneath the Heart of His Mother. Her ‘fiat”, her “yes” to conceiving and giving birth to her Divine Child is the clarion call for all who love and work for the protection of life. God’s love and gift of life to each of us urges us on to promote a culture where the lives of innocent and vulnerable tiny persons in the womb are protect, cherished and loved! A culture where every mother is afforded dignity and supported in her need!
Death must give way to life! Isn’t that what Jesus and His Mother show us!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, inspire us and strengthen us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us and obtain for us the grace to establish a culture of life and a civilization of love!
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh