Unplanned Mercy - 5th Sunday of Lent, Year C
 |
| Image from Crisis Magazine |
Audio at bottom of the post.
Yesterday, along with many other parishioners, I saw the
movie Unplanned. As Father Joe has said, this is a very
powerful movie. I believe it makes a
powerful case for why we are pro-life and shows the deception that
organizations like Planned Parenthood fall into. In this homily, however, I’d like to take a
step back from just abortion and reflect on how this movie shows us the cycle of
sin and redemption, which we experience in our lives in many ways. I’ll then connect this with our Gospel for
today, which speaks powerfully of this reality.
The movie depicts the life of Abby Johnson, who is a real
person and now a powerful pro-life activist.
Listen for the common thread within these three scenes: when she went to
college, she went from, in her own words, being a “high achiever” to a “party
girl,” and eventually meets a man, becomes pregnant, and he suggests that she
get an abortion. She replies, “Well, I will, but I just can’t tell my parents.” Fast forward to her junior year when she
talks to someone at the Planned Parenthood booth at the volunteer fair. Abby says in the movie, “I left campus that
day as a proud supporter of women in crisis, but why didn’t I want to tell my
mom about it?” Even further on in the
movie, there’s a procedure for a teenage girl that goes very wrong, and Abby
wonders if they should call an ambulance or call 911. The director of the clinic insists that they
shouldn’t, because then that would tell those praying outside that something
has gone wrong – “They can’t know.” Notice
in these scenes – there’s this urge to keep these actions secret, to keep them
hidden, especially from those who care about her.
Then, secrecy turns into shame. After her second abortion, Abby was initially
angry that the workers at Planned Parenthood had not told her about the great
pain she went through, but then she says, “My anger toward Planned Parenthood had
been replaced by self-loathing – I didn’t blame Planned Parenthood, I only
blamed myself.” That’s the next tactic
of Satan, to make us feel shame, like we can’t be forgiven, to harden our
hearts.
Then, shame can become covered by self-reliance. For eight years, no logical arguments could
have convinced Abby that what she was doing was wrong. She was caught up in the mentality she was
surrounded by, even justifying her actions as, “God’s work.” There’s another powerful scene in the movie
when a woman comes to the clinic, and her family, knowing about it, is outside
praying and pleading for her to come back, with much tears and sorrow. Yet this woman is unmoved, she appears numb
and says that she’s “fine.” Isn’t this
what we see so often in our society, and often times even within ourselves in
our own sin and brokenness? Secrecy,
shame, self-reliance – this is the cycle of sin. How can we ever escape this?
A good resource for this is St. Ignatius of Loyola, who
lived in Spain in the 16th century and started the Jesuits. He came up with what he called the Rules for
Discernment, which describe what happens in our spiritual lives. Within these rules, he gives this
comparison. When Satan is tempting us,
he is like the false lover, who is making “dishonorable advances to a daughter
of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wishes his words and persuasions
to be secret.” When the daughter or wife
reveal these advances to their father or husband, you can imagine that he’ll
definitely put a stop to it! Likewise,
when we bring our temptations and sins into the light of Christ, Satan loses
all power over this. Returning to the
movie, when Abby actually sees an abortion on the ultrasound and decides to
seek help, she goes to the Coalition for Life, who had been praying outside for
all these years. She recognizes her
brokenness, and thankfully they’re more than willing to help her. She comes into the light – no longer hidden
in darkness. And what’s the first thing
she does after her resignation from Planned Parenthood becomes official? She tells her mother!
Once we come into Christ’s light, then we begin to be healed
of our shame and self-reliance. Abby had
been working with Planned Parenthood for over 22,000 abortions, and the weight
of this tragedy and sin nearly crushed her.
Yet she found forgiveness and mercy from God’s infinite love. She actually became Catholic a couple of
years later. Just imagine what that
confession was like – all of this sin completely forgiven by God. Now she’s empowered to love and speak the
truth, being a powerful witness for our time.
Isn’t this so similar to today’s Gospel of the woman caught
in adultery? She’s brought before Jesus
in the Temple area by the scribes and Pharisees, who are trying to trap Jesus
by his own words. Essentially, if Jesus
tells them, “Yes, we should stone her,” then the Pharisees can accuse him of
going against Roman law and a danger to the state, making the public
authorities want to punish him. If Jesus
tells them, “No, we shouldn’t stone her,” then they can claim, “He’s
disregarding Moses, and thus pushing away our faith,” turning the people away
from him. It’s then quite interesting
how Jesus answers them, “Whoever of you is without sin can cast the first
stone.” Jesus is saying, “Yes, there’s a
sin here, a very serious one, but can any of you really judge this woman with
your own sin?” Then Jesus, who is the
last person with this woman, asks her if anyone is there to condemn her, and
then he sets her free, saying, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
In our lives and in our society, we’re tempted by these two
extremes. Either “sin” is really nothing
at all and perfectly acceptable, making those who are against it “intolerant”
or “prejudiced,” or sin is to be condemned without mercy, driving people toward
despair and depression. Yet Jesus takes
the third path: full knowledge and perfect mercy. Yes, he knows what sin is – he knows the
cycle of secrecy, shame, and self-reliance – but he tremendously desires to
release us from it. He shows us what
true mercy is, and he wants us to share this with others. I think about Abby’s mother, her husband, and
those she meets who are praying outside the clinic – they loved her
unconditionally and showed her true compassion, even while disagreeing with her
and praying for conversion. One of the
most powerful moments of the movie: when Abby is starting down the path of
conversion and is filled with confusion and doubt, her husband asks her, “Do
you have any idea how much I love you?” I
can hear God saying that to us, “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
As Lent comes closer to an end, this is a new time for
conversion and compassion. Is there
something in our lives that we wouldn’t want to tell our mother about? Then bring it to the light, especially in
reconciliation. Are we caught up in
shame or self-reliance? Then let the
merciful love of Jesus cleanse your heart and make you confident in his
grace. Are there others in our life who
are caught up in this cycle? Then let’s
show them authentic love and entrust them to God, taking this path that Jesus
shows us.
We offer all of this on the altar, for this Eucharist can be
our turning point as we receive Jesus’ body and blood, so let’s pray . . .
Comments
Post a Comment