A mother and child reunion: Advent fosters reconciliation

The introduction to the Lectionary points out that the Sundays of Advent lead us through specific themes: “the Lord’s coming in glory at the end of time, John the Baptist, and the events which immediately prepared for the Lord’s birth” (No. 11).

We focus, in other words, on the first and second comings of Christ, and on the one who teaches us how to prepare for His arrival by repentance. “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand.” The New Testament readings throughout Advent complement and expand on John the Baptist’s exhortations of repentance.

The preparation for Christ’s coming is reform, and the promise of His coming is reconciliation.

The two, furthermore, are linked. If the Messiah comes to restore harmony between nations and people, then the people of the Messiah are to repent of whatever destroys that harmony. If the Messiah comes to bring justice (“He shall judge the poor with justice and decide aright for the land’s afflicted”), then the people of the Messiah are to work to eliminate injustice. The “justice” referred to in Isaiah 11 is an act of intervention to save the helpless.
 
One of the key ways the Church does that is to fight abortion, which is an injustice against the most helpless and attacks the harmony of human relationships at their most fundamental and sensitive point, the relationship of mother and child. Preparing for the Lord’s coming therefore requires a total rejection of abortion. The promise of His coming heralds a new harmony between mother and child.

The focus on the Virgin and Child at the end of Advent highlights this.

The Second Vatican Council reflects upon the relationship between the coming of Christ and our activity to prepare for it. The Constitution on the Church in the Modern World states, “Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come....When we have spread on earth the fruits of our nature and our enterprise — human dignity, brotherly communion and freedom — according to the command of the Lord and in his Spirit, we will find them once again, cleansed this time from the stain of sin, illuminated and transfigured, when Christ presents to his Father an eternal and universal kingdom....” (#39).
 
In other words, the spirit of Advent should naturally bolster our pro-life efforts, and the progress we make in promoting human dignity becomes the “building blocks” for the eternal kingdom.

Those efforts foster the healing and reconciliation that follow abortion for those who repent and seek Christ’s peace. This Advent, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. This is a joint project of Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life, and I’m privileged to serve as its pastoral director. Silent No More gives voice to those who have had abortions, found healing, and want to share their stories. These testimonies (available at AbortionTestimonies.com) are among the most powerful tools we have to invite people who have had abortions to embrace Christ’s forgiveness, and to convince others that abortion will not solve their problems.

Advent leads the Church to the “silent night” when God Himself is revealed as one of us. This season leads us to the joy of His birth. May that birth shed protection on all about to be born, and may it bring to those devasted by abortion the healing peace of the Savior who is born for us.

FATHER FRANK PAVONE is among the most prominent pro-life leaders in the world. In 1993 he became national director of Priests for Life. He also is president of the National Pro-life Religious Council. He served at the Vatican assisting the Church’s pro-life work under Pope St. John Paul II.