Today's Innocents

Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a day that I have taken note of more in just the last few years.  On this day we commemorate the death of the innocent young boys killed by Herod's army in his attempt to find and destroy the newborn king he had been told of by the Magi (Matthew 2: 16-18).  We consider these innocents the first martyrs for Christ.  And so, on this day, we remember these innocent children.

On a feast day like this I can't help but also remember how many other children have lost their lives.  It might seem natural that I may be thinking of my own children, but actually I'm not.  I'm thinking more about the many, many children who have lost their lives through the abominable act of abortion.  At this time, probably close to 50 million children.  50 million!!

These are the innocents of our own time.  Not that abortion is new, but that 50 million is just the number of children killed in the United States since 1973 and only from those states reporting numbers.  So really, that number could be (and most definitely is) a lot larger.

Today I happened to be in the car during part of a broadcast of today's mass at the local Newman Center.  We got in the car just at the end of the Gospel reading and then listened to the priest's homily.  He spoke about the Innocents of Bethlehem and then about abortion.  He mentioned that about one in every three pregnancies ends in abortion.  This is just sad! 

What really struck me, however, was when he mentioned that for every 1000 abortions in a year, there are 17 adoptions. Only 17!!  I know so many people who want to adopt children, several who are on waiting lists and have been waiting for a long time.  Many people, after investigating their adoption options, will opt for international adoption because of how complicated adoption is domestically.

Not only is it complicated, but there seemingly aren't that many children available for adoption.  Otherwise, why would couples have to wait 12, 18 or even 24 months to receive a match.  And that wait doesn't include the long paper work process.  Seems to me that we could have a lot less abortions if we educated people on the wonderful benefits of adoption.

And adoption means less killing of innocent children.  These are innocent children, there is no way to sugar-coat it.  The small, innocent boys of Bethlehem lost their lives around the time of Jesus birth.  They were mourned by their mothers and families, no doubt.  Those who have gone through the pain of abortion often also mourn the loss of their children, as is evident in the Silent No More Campaign. 

We should all mourn the loss of today's innocents.  These children who would now be in their middle-30s and younger.  Children of my generation that we never knew.  These children could be scientists, lawyers, doctors, teachers, construction workers, mothers, fathers, friends, and neighbors.  These are the innocents of our generation.  Wouldn't it be nice if our children could live in a world where abortion was non-existant?

God Bless the innocents who lost their lives over 2000 years ago and the many innocents who lose their lives each day to the evils of abortion.