Reaching Out to Women Who've Had Abortions - Solemnity of the Epiphany (Homily #82)

Homily #82a

“Dear Mr. P., I have never met you, but I feel like I know you.  Before Rachel's Vineyard, my life was a mess.  After Rachel's Vineyard, I am doing better now in my life and am healing.  I just want to say thank you for reaching out to me.”  

- Letter From Unknown Teenager That Attended "Rachel's Vineyard" in 1999 to Mr. Purificacion, Religion Teacher, St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School, Vallejo, CA, from 1998-2002 (letter paraphrased from memory) and cited in Homily #82)

[Correction made on 1/10/17: I erroneously said "Project Rachel," but the correct ministry is Rachel's Vineyard.  My apologies.  Thank you to my friend, Maureen DeVigal, for the correction.]

Homily #82b (Sun. 5pm Mass)

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HOMILY #82
(first half of Homily #82 is partly recycled from Homily #49)

(accidentally logged in as Homily #83 on YouTube)

REACHING OUT TO WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD ABORTIONS

ON SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY

St. Catherine's Catholic Church, Vallejo, CA, USA

Jan. 7-8, 2017

I have here in my hand something to show you.  Right now, you don’t know what it is because it is wrapped in a blanket.  It is a mystery to you.

You may know some things about it.  You may even have some idea of what it is.  Using our reason, we know that something definitely exists here.  You can kind of figure it out and rule out what it is not.  Some might even come very close to actually guessing what it is.  It’s like an unwrapped Christmas present.

But even with a million years to figure it out, you won’t know the details unless I manifest it to you.  I must reveal it and take off the veil.  There must be a moment of epiphany, a revelation.

Well, eventually, I lift the veil like this.  And you realize – aha! – it’s a doll!  And after some time, I reveal even more details about the doll.  I reveal to you that this doll has a name: St. Therese of Lisieux. 

But wait! There’s more!  We have further new insight into the mystery when I tell you that the doll belongs to my 6-yr. old daughter.  I also reveal to you that my daughter took a pen and colored St. Therese’s left eye purple.  She said she accidentally colored St. Therese’s left eye.  All these details you would not know based on just reason alone, but through a revelation.

This visual exercise explains today’s Scripture readings for the Feast of the Epiphany, or the manifestation, or the revelation of Baby Jesus – even as a young newborn – as the Messiah and Savior of the world through a star. 

The magi or Three Kings, which represent the first non-Jews to come to Jesus, received the Revelation through the star at Bethlehem.  They asked, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."  The veil was taken off for them, and they had a moment of epiphany, the showing or manifestation of not an ordinary cute baby, but a Baby manifested as the Savior of the world, the Light to the Nations.  Just like what I did in slowly unveiling the doll, God gradually reveals or unveils His inner life in stages to the whole world.

In the Second Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.  It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…”

Vatican II, in its Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, teaches, “Jesus is the mediator and fullness of all revelation (DV no 2).  In other words, through this Newborn Baby, God “has said everything; there will be no other word than this one” (CCC 65).  Nothing else – no new Scripture, no new prophet, no new event – is necessary anymore.

But wait again!  There’s more!  This leads to the second main point from the Word of God: We have to respond.  Here’s how: We are going to reply in one of two ways: either as Kings from the East bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh or as King Herod who wanted to kill the Baby Jesus.  I invite you to be the 3 Magi.

King Herod today represents a disregard for the sanctity of innocent human life.  I invite you to have a moment of epiphany for the millions of Newborn Baby Jesus’s of today.  Through the Good News today, I’d like to reach out to those who have had abortions and experience the loving merciful embrace of our Heavenly Father.

[Correction made on 1/10/17: I erroneously said "Project Rachel," but the correct ministry is Rachel's Vineyard.  My apologies.  Thank you to my friend, Maureen DeVigal, for the correction.]

There’s a program called Rachel's Vineyard.  Our diocese regularly promotes Rachel's Vineyard with confidential retreats.  Rachel's Vineyard helps to heal women who have had abortions.  When I was a Religion teacher at St. Pat’s teaching about abortion, I put up a poster on my classroom for Rachel's Vineyard.  One of my students gave it to his cousin, and about a month later, I received a card from a teenager who I never met before.  I kept the card.  It went something like this.  “Dear Mr. P., I have never met you, but I feel like I know you.  Before Rachel's Vineyard, my life was a mess.  After Rachel's Vineyard, I am doing better now in my life and am healing.  I just want to say thank you for reaching out to me.”

I use the words of St. John Paul the Great from his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life, 1995): I would like to say a special word to women who have had abortions.  The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decisions, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was painful….  The wound in your heart may not yet have healed.  Certainly, what happened was and remains terribly wrong.  But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope.  Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly.  If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance.  The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  You can be promoters of the right ot life.  Through your commitment to life…you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life” (EV 99).  

As we prepare for the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco on January 21, let the Church raise her voice on behalf of the voiceless and poor in the womb, the new Newborn Christ’s of today!  On this Feast of the Epiphany, let us too offer not material gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but rather let us have our moments of epiphany for love of the Newborn Christ by loving innocent human life and building a Culture of Life and Love today.

In closing, may we take to heart the words of the Responsorial Psalm, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”