Of course, the leading edge of that battle continues to center around abortion, which attacks innocent life at its most vulnerable stage.

Over thirty years later, there is still hope in the United States that the infamous Supreme Court decision of 1973, Roe vs. Wade, which made abortion a “universal right” with a stroke of the pen, will be seriously modified, if not overturned.

In Canada, despite the dedication of many pro-life people, there seems little hope of any redress from the government, no matter which party leads it.

“Choice” is inscribed in our laws and is founded, it is claimed, on the so-called “Charter of Rights.” The right of an unborn child to live is not considered an issue of importance by our elected leaders, with the exception of certain dedicated individuals.

It seems we must accept the fact that we are living today in a society which, in one way or another, values death more highly than life.

Recently, our federal government was about to consider a law legalizing euthanasia, but the government fell before it could be passed. It will no doubt come back to haunt us under the next government, or the one after that.

Other writers have written very well about the insidiousness of the Culture of Death and how our society is steadily drumming into our brains and into our souls that it is “normal,” “acceptable,” and “right” to “terminate” life at its beginnings and to end it “mercifully” as it nears its natural end.

We hear that such decisions are made for reasons of “compassion” and “mercy,” that it is “cruel” to allow an unwanted child to be born, “ludicrous” to require a person suffering dreadfully to continue living. We are taught that, “You have a right to choose.”

“Choice” is the new absolute, the fruit of which is a worship of death and a denial of life. It is all the more tragic because most people probably do not intend to worship such a horrific idol and don’t even think in those terms, yet that is precisely what is happening.

Where does all this leave Christian believers today? I believe we are called first of all to a kind of “holy sorrow,” for surely Christ weeps at the destruction of his creation, whether it be the little ones in the womb, the confused ones at the end of their earthly journey, or anyone in between who in any way has been neglected, violated, or abused.

There is a holy sorrow that refuses to look the other way or to ignore the plight of God’s innocent ones. Instead, it carries the tragedy we are living through with courage and faith. Blessed are they who mourn, they will be comforted (Mt 5:4).

The world today needs people who mourn at its fate, whose tears of prayer will wash away some of the accumulated debris in so many souls.

Of course, there is the question of: what can be done? There are people on the front lines of the medical world, the political world, education, the pro-life movement in its various forms.

All of this is so absolutely necessary so that some modicum of the truth can be heard in our society, and maybe even effect some change of course or modification in the tidal wave surging on its path of destruction.

Such dedication deserves the full support of the Church leadership and of all believers.
Where does Madonna House fit into this picture? What insight can we add? What contribution are we making? How are we a pro-life community?

As I write this, there is a large and happy group of people on the floor below me in the Madonna House kitchen making cookies for the feast of St. Nicholas. I’m not sure how the gingerbread cookies will turn out, but judging by the laughter wafting upstairs, they certainly are having fun doing it!

Does it sound completely inane to you that this sort of activity might be part of God’s “solution” to these tragic times?

Why am I saying this? Because it is only in a family of love that young people, the middle-aged, or the elderly, discover the true secret of their identity: that each of us is an image of God. Therefore, each one has infinite value, is infinitely loved by God, is personally cherished by the Most High.

Many who come to Madonna House do not know these truths very well. If they are fortunate, they have at least heard about them. But to believe they are really true is another story.

Sometimes it takes months and even years to reach to the deepest and most secret places inside with the message of the Good News. But when the Gospel does penetrate those places, what joy bursts forth! What celebration! What childlike release of energy to love others and lay down one’s life with abandon!

That is what is really happening in the kitchen below me. The seeds of the Gospel of Life are being planted in a simple and very childlike way.

This, in turn, is the fruit of a life lived 1700 years ago by a saint whose reputation for compassion and fatherly care inspired countless generations. Some seeds of the life of St. Nicholas are bearing fruit tonight amongst the cookie enthusiasts and the somewhat beleaguered team organizing the whole affair.

Today the battle for Life must take many forms. I have come to understand that the Madonna House way of life itself is one of the means God is using to restore people’s minds and hearts to the truth of their infinite dignity.

This restoration will only happen where there is community, “family,” because the wounded and broken heart and mind can only be restored in such a context.

It is the way we are made, and the breakdown of family life today is the main reason that so many place so little value on their own lives or the lives of others.

As with all else, it is Our Lady who is specially designated by the Lord to show us the way. I was particularly struck in poustinia today by the passage from Revelation 12: 2—She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.

Of course there is some discussion among exegetes who say that this passage is about Israel/the Messianic People and not exactly about Our Lady.

But traditionally, the Church has understood this passage as referring to the Mother of God, and I am following that interpretation here.

Has it ever struck you as strange that the Mother of God is depicted in this verse as if she experienced the same pain as any other woman in giving birth to a child? Strange, because the traditional teaching is that Our Lady was spared this, as she was without stain of original sin.

To me, the actual words in this passage indicate perhaps something even more intense than normal labor pains. For example, the word here translated as “agony” has the connotation of “torment” or “torture.” What can this mean, if it indeed does refer to the Mother of God?

Does it not imply that she not only accompanied her Son in “giving birth” to the New Creation at the Cross, but that she accompanies each one of us in his or her agony as Christ comes to birth, in a manner of speaking, in a life threatened by the devouring dragon?

For surely that dragon is going about today, seeking whom he might devour! It is Our Lady who accompanies us in this hour of battle. It is she who understands best what it will take to overcome Satan and to bring Christ to term in people today.

Experience has shown that it will take more than a cookie-baking bee to do it—lots of listening, working together, forgiving, teaching, and suffering!

But in the end, it is the childlike spirit that is stronger than all the powers of hell, and Our Lady is the most childlike of us all.