Did you ever realize that the same four words that were used by the Lord
Jesus to save the world are also used by some to promote abortion? "This is
my body." The same simple words are spoken from opposite ends of the
universe, with meanings that are directly contrary to each other.
Scripture tells us that on the night before He died to save all people, the
Lord Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples,
saying, "This is My Body, which is given up for you." He was pointing to what
would happen the next day, when He would give that same Body on the cross. He
sacrifices Himself so that we may live. He gives up His Body so that He can
destroy the power of sin and death. As a result, He welcomes us into His life,
into His Kingdom. He makes us members of His Body!
On the other hand, abortion supporters say, "This is my body. So don't
interfere with it! It's mine, so I can do what I want, even to the point of
killing the life within it. All is secondary to my dominion over my body." In
fact one abortion supporter has written, "I say their (pro-lifers') God is worth
nothing compared to my body" (Michelle Goldberg, "Rant for Choice," in
University of Buffalo student newspaper, 1995).
"This is my body." Same words, different results. Christ gives His body away
so others might live; abortion supporters cling to their own bodies so others
might die. In giving His Body, Christ teaches the meaning of love: I sacrifice
myself for the good of the other person. Abortion teaches the opposite of love:
I sacrifice the other person for the good of myself!
"This is my body." If, indeed, our bodies are ours, then let's ask the
next question: Why? The answer is so that we can give our bodies, our lives,
ourselves, away in love to one another and to God. Christ declares, "Do this in
memory of me." He calls us to do what He did, and that is precisely how we
reverse the dynamic of abortion. Mom and Dad must say to their child, "This is
my body, my life, given for you," rather than, "This is my body, my life, so go
away!"
Human happiness and fulfillment are never found by pushing other people out
of the way. They are found when we push ourselves out of the way. Pope John Paul
II says as much in The Gospel of Life:
"He who had come "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45), attains on the cross the heights of love:
"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends" (Jn. 15:13). And he died for us while we were yet sinners (cf. Rom.
5:8).
"In this way Jesus proclaims that life finds its center, its meaning and its
fulfillment when it is given up. At this point our meditation becomes praise
and thanksgiving, and at the same time urges us to imitate Christ and follow
in his footsteps" (cf. 1 Pt. 2:21).
"We too are called to give our lives for our brothers and sisters, and thus
to realize in the fullness of truth the meaning and destiny of our
existence" (Evangelium Vitae #51).
"This is my body." It is no accident that the same words are used for
such different purposes. A spiritual conflict rages here. We win, in our own
lives and in the world, by living these words in self-giving, life-giving love.
Priests for Life Columns
