Accept the Whole Christ

By Fr. Frank A. Pavone

Suppose that at Mass today, someone came up to receive Communion and, when the priest said, "The Body of Christ," the communicant took the Host, broke a piece off, and gave it back to the priest saying, "Amen, Father, except this piece." This would not make sense, and we would be rightly shocked. When we accept Christ, we accept the whole Christ.

To accept the whole Christ also means we accept all His brothers and sisters. If we accept Christ, we also accept all those whom He accepts. This is true even when those He accepts do not seem so acceptable to us. Maybe they're different. Maybe they're annoying. Maybe they have offended us.

Or maybe they're just too small. A whole group in our society today, the boys and girls in the womb, are often rejected. When their mothers feel they cannot provide for them, many are led to abortion, without being given other, better choices. Somehow we think we can love and accept the mother while rejecting her child. Why do we do this? Christ accepts them both; Christ loves them both. Why can't we? Why can't our society?

To accept Christ means to accept the whole Christ, to accept and love all those He loves. If we support abortion, we are rejecting those whom Christ loves, and in that respect, are rejecting Christ Himself! It is like breaking off part of the Host and giving it back!

Love and acceptance are not always as easy and pleasant as they sound. If we truly love our neighbor, we will begin doing more to eliminate abortion. We never eliminate problems by eliminating people. We never serve women by destroying their children. We never improve society by rejecting society's future members. We never build up the Body of Christ by killing Christ's future disciples. Yes, there is an alternative to abortion. It's love... love that accepts and nurtures not only some people, but all.

Amen.