Friday, January 2, 2004
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Friday, January 2, 2004 |
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The fight for the unborn By DAVID EPPS This past week, we observed the Feast of the Holy Innocents at our church. The short homily for the service was presented by The Reverend Dcn. Jereme De Leo of Newnan. I was so moved by his words I decided, with his permission, to offer his message to you, only slightly edited and without comment. “Today, we recognize the Feast of the Holy Innocents. As we have heard in the gospel reading (Matthew 2:1-18), the Holy Innocents were those children who had the unique position of being the only ones in history to die in the stead of Christ. Now, there is more to Herod’s anger over the Christ-child than just the magi not returning to him. Many of the ancient Church Fathers interpreted Genesis 49:10, which reads, ‘The scepter will not depart from Judah — until He comes to whom it belongs,’ as saying that Israel will have a Jewish king until the time that the Messiah will come. And this is historically accurate — Herod was the first non-Jewish king to rule in Jerusalem. This is why Herod consulted the chief priests and scribes when he heard that the Christ-child had come. The coming of the Messiah, the true King of Israel, threatened the reign of Herod. The coming of this child was an extreme inconvenience to Herod and posed a great risk to his future as the kingdom’s ruler. “Not much has changed since then. Today, over 1 million children die each year, over 4,000 a day, while still in their mother’s womb, because the child was an inconvenience and posed a risk to the mother or father’s future. The government’s own research statistics, and those of national organizations that promote the freedom to kill one’s own child in the womb, show that over 95 percent of abortions performed are done strictly as a means of birth control. Only 1 percent are due to rape or incest, and only 1 percent are due to abnormalities in the pre-born child. To give birth to the child would have been just too inconvenient. To give a picture of how many children this is, a statistic in 1999 showed that nearly 40 million children had died from abortions in the U.S. alone since 1973, when the court case Roe v. Wade was decided — that is nearly twice the population of the entire New York City metropolitan area, which is this nation’s largest metropolitan city. The numbers are staggering, and the fact that it actually happens is absolutely heartbreaking. This is why the fight for the lives of these children is so important. In Exodus 23:7, the Scripture says, ‘Do not kill the innocent.’ These children who have not had the opportunity to breathe their first breath are most certainly innocent, and are the most helpless of all. The Scriptures instruct and exhort God’s people to consider the poor and needy, to defend the innocent, and to help the helpless. We, as His children, should not ignore the silent cry of these most helpless and defenseless children, whose lives are ended at the hands of the those who God gave to protect and defend them — their own parents. “If you don’t know how to help these children, I offer a few suggestions. At the very least, pray for the children, pray for the parents who believe that death is a viable option, and pray for those who would encourage, aid, and perform it. Help fund or support or volunteer at local pregnancy crisis centers ... or help support national (pro-life) ministries ... by becoming a member or donating money to help them in their effort to protect the lives of children. One way we at Christ the King help these children is by offering this service, the Liturgy at the Time of Death for the Pre-born, to give those who are touched by the tragedy of abortion the opportunity to commend the lives of their own children, or loved ones — children, to the Lord; to hear of God’s love for them and their children, and to receive forgiveness from Him; and to give those who have a heart for these children an outlet to make their prayers known to God. We, as the children’s Christian family, come together to commend the lives of all unborn children to the Lord, especially those that have died or will die today, who did not have the opportunity to live, nor the opportunity to partake in any Christian virtue or Sacrament, such as Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, or even a burial at their own death. We remember what we heard in the Scripture reading from Revelation 21:1-7, that ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.’ And we remember what David said to Goliath, that ‘the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.’ The battle for the lives of the unborn is also the Lord’s and He will be victorious, as we pick up the opportunities, as pebbles, that the Lord has put into our hands, and wield them against the Goliath of abortion.’ With help from the Lord, we will find, as David did, that the fearful giant will fall. Amen." [Father David Epps is Rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church on Ga. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com.]
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