Happy Feast of the Annunciation, Feast of the Incarnation, Feast of the Conception, International Day of the Unborn Child, and New Year's!
As Catholics, it is vitally important to remember why we must protect life at conception, and it is on this day we remember why.
Jesus Christ was announced today to the Virgin Mary by the Angel Gabriel. This is the day Jesus Christ was Incarnate Man, by being conceived in the Virgin Mary's Womb by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
In the 1990s, Saint Pope John Paul II advocated and created, The International Day of the Unborn Child for this day, 25 March. It is a day to remember and advocate for the legal protection of unborn humans everywhere.
The first country to celebrate this was El Salvador in 1993, under the name of the Day of the Right to Be Born. El Salvador generally celebrates a similar day on 26 March called the National Day of Life, Peace and Justice and on 28 December called Feast of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates what is believed to be the first Christian martyrs, the children who were ordered to be killed and were killed by King Herod 1 of Judea, due to King Herod 1 feeling threatened by the real King of the Jews (and all people) being born, Jesus Christ. 28 December is now considered to be the Day of the Right to Be Born in El Salvador. Since 1993, the Day of the Unborn Child has become an official day in some capacity in Argentina (1999; although their recent legalization of abortion probably makes this void), Guatemala (1999), Nicaragua (2000), Dominican Republic (2001), Peru (2002), Paraguay (2003), the Philippines (2004), Honduras (2005), Ecuador (2006), and Chile (2013). Brazil, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico have attempted this, and might almost be there to make it an official holiday. The Knights of Columbus have pushed for this to become more official in the United States of America as well. It is an unofficial holiday in many places, and due to the universality of the Roman Catholic Church, and due to the nature of three separate independent and sovereign entities being in some way, directly associated with the Roman Catholic Church (the Vatican City State, Sovereign Knights of Malta, and Holy See), this day is official at Catholic Churches in many jurisdictions where Catholicism is practiced, as well as in these three jurisdictions. In addition, many other Christian denominations also hold this day official. So, even if it is not officially celebrated everywhere by secular authorities, it is officially celebrated everywhere by our Universal Church.
Furthermore, this day has been, and often still is considered to be New Year's Day, as it is often considered to be the start of Jesus Christ's reign (Anno Domini--"In The Year of Our Lord"), as the age of Grace began with Jesus Christ's Incarnation due to Him being Conceived, and thus Becoming Man. However, many consider the Age of Grace to be with the Age of the Church and thus Pentecost is considered the start of both (50th Day of Easter), however, generally, New Year's Day was either considered to be 25 March, Easter Sunday, or 25 December (Christmas). Still, one could consider Good Friday to be the start, at which point the Gates of Heaven were opened after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, however some say this did not happen until Easter Sunday, after the Resurrection, while others say this did not happen until the Ascension of Jesus (The Feast of the Ascension: 40th Day of Easter). Another view could be the day when Matthew 16:18 was stated when Jesus Christ stated that Saint Peter would be the rock on which Jesus Christ will build His Church (six days before Mathew 17, ~ second Sunday of Lent), but Pentecost is seen as Saint Peter fulfilling this promise for the first time, hence why Pentecost is viewed as the beginning of the Church. Either way, most of Christian history chose 25 March as their New Year's Day. And, you can still see the remnants of this in various places, such as in Florence, Italy where you can see traditional displays of the former independent Florence celebrating their traditional New Year's, even to this day.
Yet, as we hopefully come out of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and while there are wars raging all over the world, it is important to remember that the most important part of today is the protection of the unborn! We believe as Catholics that life begins at conception and continues until natural death. And, it is true that the human body forms at conception. We become human, like Jesus Became Human, at conception! But, we still kill at alarming rates, especially when it comes to abortion. In 2021 for example, abortion was the leading cause of death in the world accounting for 42% of all deaths! And yet, while abortion has been a policy approved and promoted by many around the world, and sometimes even forced, so much so that around 60% of the world has access to legal abortion, most places have sought to illegalize or decriminalize the murder of babies outside of the womb. Yet, this has been challenged too in many places such as in Maryland, California, the Netherlands, and worldwide according to various medical journals (where it is often promoted). In fact, the current mainstream of bioethics debates about whether it is okay to kill a baby outside the womb or not. And, if you recall, in the United Kingdom, these ideas reigned true with Alfie Evans who was left to die without life-support, while his parents were barred from taking him elsewhere! The idea was that the state knew what was better for Alfie than his parents, and they decided it was best for him to die than to keep him "inhumanely alive" to suffer. Apparently, to these experts, death was not suffering.
As we head to more dependence on state controlled medicine around the world, and as the state becomes increasingly in control of decision with our own lives and those of our children, it is vehemently important that we advocate for the protection of life from conception until natural death. By elevating today to its rightful place, we can better do so as Catholics.
Thus, as Pope Francis consecrates Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, it must be remembered that a greater killer is upon us than war, and that is the killer of abortion and infanticide. We are all blessed to have not been victims of these killings.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
