By Bishop Stephen Berg
To be sure, we are going through some confusing times. COVID-19 has taken our country down, and deep seated issues of unhappiness, tragedy and restiveness have arisen. Lives lost and damages caused by hurricanes and wildfires have heightened fears and uncertainties. And there is an election ahead in 40+ days… but who is counting?
Through all this confusion, the timeless gifts of faith are often being questioned as not relating to the issues at hand. Where action is called for, whether socially, administratively or politically, the values of faith are often set apart from the discussion as personal opinions. Rather, we are inundated with the constant noise of headlines, sound bites, and political rhetoric. Any expression of wonder at the amazing works which God performs, or any sure conviction that He works now in our lives, especially through these confusing times, can somehow be seen as an anomaly. Could not His work be made more evident to those who struggle for a quick, sure resolution to the present difficulties? Is He really here in the first place? For those with these questions, please read on. At least we may agree that there is something beyond us, working quietly to help us through this journey.
Let us begin, always, with life itself. An old blessing begins, “Lord, thank you for giving me this day. And, Lord, this day would have been enough, but you also gave me this family. And this day and this family would have been enough, but then, Lord, you put forward this sunshine and these trees. Lord, the day, the family, the sunshine and the trees would have been more than enough, but then you gave me a friend. All this was enough, Lord, but now you gave me other moments to remember. And now I see there are these other little gifts you strew constantly in my path. And please, Lord, all this is enough and more, really, but now you are giving me…”
The blessings continue, they are endless, and through counting them the view of life changes.
There are certainly issues of our times which appear to be moving beyond us and which will be of great concern far beyond the months ahead. But there is one issue that is now included on the Colorado November 3 ballot which we should be alert to, for a small gift is to be offered. That is an opportunity for each one of us to make a vote for the precious gift of life for another person. To vote “Yes” on Proposition 115 for babies who have achieved 22 weeks of life in their mother’s womb, to be allowed the right to a natural birth. That these little ones will achieve at least the status deserved of life-giving support and be freed from the threat of abortion, to be given the chance to be born into this world. Forty-two of the United States already recognize and guarantee this right of the 22 week-old unborn person. Colorado yet lags behind.
The gift which is being offered is certainly not an inordinate request. Scientific studies show that the hidden, developing embryo acquires the ability for taste, smell, and detecting sounds, especially the voice of the mother, during the second trimester of pregnancy. The developing heart begins to pump blood by the sixth week, and at week ten he or she has developed the major organ systems and has the human characteristics which will be unique to him or her throughout the life ahead. By week 22 the child is a vitally developed human being. Many are born just so, even before that 22nd week, to live healthy, normal lives. Under Proposition 115, these unborn babies of 22 weeks will have the opportunity to live and to be born just like every human being deserves.
On this just past day of September 11, I was privileged to be part of the annual celebration banquet of A Caring Pregnancy Center at the Pueblo Convention Center. This was the largest public gathering in Pueblo County since the outbreak of COVID 19, with just under 500 in attendance, situated in adjoining conference rooms and connected according to the social distancing recommendations. We celebrated the work of the ACPC staff and their 43 volunteers, their amazing work with expectant mothers, fathers and families of unborn children through lonely and difficult pregnancies in the 100 mile radius around Pueblo, which include Huerfano, Otero, Fremont and Custer counties.
The predominant question of these expectant mothers being, will anybody ever, really love my child? Through the ultra sound machine carried about in the ACPC mobile unit #ANNthe Van, mothers, fathers, families, schoolchildren, everyone can see the hidden gift of the life of the unborn. “Look, I can see a heartbeat. I can see fingers, toes, earlobes, look, she’s sucking her thumb.” The ACPC reaches and serves up to 1400 new patient/referrals per year, with a doctor on staff to assist with women’s health issues. Incentives are offered in parenting classes and baby-to-toddler essentials such as diapers and warm clothing. All free, through the partnership of ACPC with private sponsors and more than 40 local faith-based organizations. Last year alone, more than 200 new babies came happily into the world that might otherwise have been lost through abortion, through the dedication and human kindness of ACPC.
It’s happening! We can do this!
In these confusing times, then, we have an opportunity to bring forth a gift. So much we cannot do about so many things these days. However we can touch real lives somewhere, somehow, now. Even better, we will touch the hidden, invisible lives, the unborn person which will be given a voice, the baby who will some day walk with someone we don’t know, the child who will change the future for the better in a way we can’t foresee. Perhaps we will never meet this person who is to be given this life. But we can vote YES, Proposition 115, to make this one difference, to bring it about, and to just say yes.
As for the rest of the noise and confusion out there, our faith in this cause has reason behind it. When we say yes to life, to the hidden, fragile and most vulnerable among us, the blessings flow mysteriously, in hidden ways, given by the hidden power which creates and guides us. God is working in our midst!
Bishop Stephen Berg serves the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo.