Hope Amidst Hopelessness

One wonders why, but the mysterium iniquitatis may never be fully answered. An abortionist in Illinois – he seems to have been the only one willing to fulfil the ghastly deed for years – kept the bodies of over two thousand fetuses – that is, babies – in his home, his car. They will now be properly buried, which is required by law in the state, even if they ironically and tragically still allow pre-born murder. After all, if the bodies should be buried, are they not human? And, if human, deserving of life? But we pray that these children may see the fullness of life, and that the morally blind ‘doctor’ see the truth before he faces his own judgement.

This reminds me, in an inverse sort of way, of the story of Stojan Adasevic, the Serbian abortionist who killed over 45,000 babies, and was one day visited in a dream by none other than Thomas Aquinas, whom he did not know and of whom he had never heard. Around the Angelic Doctor in the heavenly vision were a number of angelic children of varying ages – when Stojan asked who he was and who they were, Thomas replied with his usual brevity: “My name is Thomas Aquinas…And they are the ones you killed with your abortions”. Shaken, Dr. Adasevic after awakening committed one more abortion, on his own cousin, and the baby’s heart came out beating. He realized then and there that he had killed a human being, and never did another, and, like the late Bernard Nathanson, took up the cause of a pro-life warrior, to this day. One may always hope.

And while on hope, I had never heard of Caroline Flack, nor of the shows she hosted, her media presence, but was saddened to hear of her recent suicide, which struck me in a particular way. I glanced at the trajectory of her life – a series of failed romances, including Prince Harry; constant exposure by the press; keeping up appearances for her fans; and, most recently, an assault charge against her boyfriend, not long after her 40th birthday. Was she looking for love? For children and family life?  There are so many that seek the apparent good, but know not, and never are given, the true good. I know not if she had faith, but we may hope that whatever of the truth she did have, she reached out to in the end. As we witness the growing encroachment of euthanasia – the apparent ‘easy way out’ – we should recall with the full firmness our faith offers that taking one’s life is always a tragic thing, so if you hear of anyone leaning that way, reach out to them, pray for and even with them, and, remember, each stage of life has its own joys, and one may always begin to do the good that God wills, which may be done in a short or long space, as the parable of the workers in the field – one hour or twelve hours – makes clear.

And on idle workers, the roadblocks continue, with Trudeau’s pathetic dithering, his seeking of peace, peace, when there is no peace. The emptiness of his rhetoric – and one wonders, trying not to judge the man, of his own principles, insofar as he holds any – are becoming daily more evident. As Augustine says, peace is the ‘tranquility of order’, and there is no order without law and its consistent application, via coercion if need be. As another saying goes, si vis pacem, para bellum, if you want peace, prepare for war. And it may be a war of some sort towards which we are headed, as citizens begin taking things into their own hands.