Manna, illuminated manuscript, 1244 to 1254, The Crusader Bible, MS M.638 (fol. 9v), Pierpont Morgan Library of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, New York.

In conversation with atheist friends and colleagues, I have asked them, “What gives your life meaning?”  Typical of the answers I have received are comments like, “I don’t care about meaning.  I just want to pay the bills every week.”  “I just want to be able to buy my children nice things.”(And in case you’re wondering, these comments came from people earning the average wage or higher.)

Is that all?  No wonder there is such a high rate of suicide and depression!  Christ came to give us so much more:

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

In today’s readings (see end of page), Jesus tells the crowds following him,

Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’ (John 6:27)

Once you start attaching yourself to Christ and his teaching, your whole life will change from one of shallow materialism and selfishness to one of abundant life, joy and self-giving.  Materialism and self-gratification can only lead to a callous disregard for others.  As an example, the atheists I know, including close relatives, are all “pro-choice” when it comes to abortion.  They hold that the freedom of the choice of the mother trumps the rights of the child.    The fruits of this lack of respect for the most vulnerable of human lives has been supremely illustrated over the last few weeks by the secretly recorded videos made by the Center for Medical Progress.  Only a few of the videos have so far been released, but they reveal the gruesome nature of the abortion industry and its profiteering from trade in the body parts of murdered children.  Bishop-elect Robert Barron comments:

While they slurp wine in elegant restaurants, the good doctors—both women—blandly talk about what price they would expect for providing valuable inner organs, and how the skillful abortionists of Planned Parenthood know just how to murder babies so as not to damage the goods. One of the doctors specified that the abortion providers employ “less crunchy” methods when they know that the organs of a baby are going to be harvested for sale. Mind you, the “crunchiness” she’s talking about is a reference to the skull-crushing and dismemberment by knife and suction typically employed in abortions. For me, the most bone-chilling moment was when one of the kindly physicians, informed that the price she was asking was too low, leered and said, “Oh good, because I’d like a Lamborghini.” (The Death of God and the Loss of Human Dignity)

This issue is so important, I am posting links to all the videos that have been released so far:

VIDEO #1

A second undercover video shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Medical Directors’ Council President, Dr. Mary Gatter, haggling over payments for intact fetal specimens and offering to use a “less crunchy technique” to get more intact body parts.

VIDEO #2

VIDEO #3

Dr Deborah Nucatola, Senior Director of Planned Parenthood’s Medical Services: “It makes a huge difference, I’d say a lot of people want liver. And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they’ll know where they’re putting their forceps. The kind of rate-limiting step of the procedure is calvarium. Calvarium—the head—is basically the biggest part.  We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.And wit  h the calvarium, in general, some people will actually try to change the presentation so that it’s not vertex, so if you do it starting from the breech presentation, there’s dilation that happens as the case goes on, and often, the last step, you can evacuate an intact calvarium at the end.”

VIDEO #4

Dr Savita Ginde, Vice President and Medical Director of Planned Parenthood, Rocky Mountains: “We’d have to do a little bit of training with the providers or something to make sure that they don’t crush” [fetal organs during 2nd trimester abortions].  I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.”

Getting back to my first point, how is any of this “food that endures to eternal life”?  Far more likely that it will result in eternal damnation.  Pray for these people and for anyone that supports the ‘pro-choice’ lie, that their eyes will be opened to God’s light and love and that they will turn away from evil.

Readings for this Sunday:

Word format: Year B 18th Sunday 2015

Pdf format: Year B 18th Sunday 2015