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A world without mothers would be "inhumane” because mothers always know how to give witness—even in the worst of times—to tenderness, dedication and moral strength.
These beautiful words expressed by Pope Francis at his January 7th General Audience, speak to the tenderness and sacrificial love of a mother.
There is a saying in the pro-life movement; abortion does not take away the fact that you are a mother, it just makes you the mother of a dead child. It’s not an empty slogan, but a sad reality. As someone who aborted a child, at one time the Pope’s words could have made me despair. They are a reminder of all I was not: lacking self-sacrifice and committing an inhumane act that became a part of my life. But the beauty of our faith and the unfathomable love and mercy of God tell us that it is never too late to love. He is always there calling us to Himself, and restoring what we destroyed through sin.
As Pope John Paul II wrote in “The Gospel of Life” when speaking of abortion, “Nothing is definitively lost.” Why? Because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. Through His death, resurrection and ascension He has redeemed life and offered us the chance to love once again. He has allowed me to have a living relationship with my child Joshua, whom He wants me to claim as my own, as He intended.
Through my faith in His love and mercy, I am able, with confidence, to reclaim my child Joshua and become spiritually the mother that I failed to be physically.
Mothers always know how to give witness—even in the worst of times—to tenderness, dedication and moral strength.
And so, through the grace of God, I give witness, “even in the worst of times” to the dignity of each life, and ironic as it sounds, to my love and dedication to my aborted son.
I did not allow myself to love him while he was on earth, and that act is always wrong, but he is nestled in my heart because I am his mother and a mother’s heart is tenderness. It is sad that so many women find out too late that even abortion cannot take that love away. That love that is part of who we are as human beings made in the image of God, made to give life and nurture our children.
And so, I am eternally grateful for the love of God who used my son through my greatest sin to teach me about true love: His love which gives me the courage and moral strength to proclaim the dignity of each human life and the evil of abortion.
Theresa Bonopartisis the director of the post-abortion healing program Lumina and co-developer of the “Entering Canaan” post abortion ministry model.
Note: An “Entering Canaan” sibling weekend will be taking place March 13-15, 2015 at St. Gabriel’s Retreat House in Catonsville, MD. For further information contact Theresa at lumina@postabortionhelp.org or call 877-586-4621.
And today we celebrate...