My sister and I talk almost every day, checking in regarding family matters, health, the weather and the news. Often, we suggest movies or shows to one another. A while back my sister shared how much she was enjoying the BBC series, Call the Midwife. The series is based on the memoir of a midwife who worked with a group of Anglican sisters in the East End of London in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It is well done. Good characters, good acting, thoughtful story line and as a result it has received critical acclaim and many awards. However, after the first episode I could no longer generate the energy to watch it.
The juxtaposition of the story’s snapshot of real life at the time when I was a child with ongoing current news about whether or not Roe V Wade would be overturned, was just too much for me. All of the women in the story were poor. The young nurse midwife who came to serve them was shocked by the poverty. One of the women central to the story had 25 children. Yes, 25, and it is based on a true story. Other pregnant moms were struggling to work, manage the children they already had and survive in the midst of marriages that were much less than ideal. I kept thinking, as I watched, that these kinds of scenarios are what people who want control over women’s reproduction are willing to accept. No abortion for any reason. No birth control. Women trapped in loveless marriages with many children to care for and support. It was a grim reminder of what women have been able to move beyond with the advent of modern medicine which includes contraception as well as access to abortion when necessary.
Being a follower of Jesus takes commitment. I think that is a fair synopsis of the readings for this weekend. Fr. Jose Pagola in his commentary on Luke 9:51-62 says that “Jesus uses harsh, even shocking images. It is obvious that he wants to arouse consciences. He is not looking for more followers, but for more committed followers who will follow him unconditionally, giving up false securities and cutting ties they need to sever. His exchanges basically pose one question; what kind of relationship do we, who call ourselves his followers, want to establish with him?” (Pagola, pages 108-109) Jesus invites us to be his followers for the long haul, through good times and bad; when it is inconvenient as well as when it is convenient.
This week there are many evangelical as well as Catholic Christians celebrating the overturning of Roe V Wade which will leave the decision about abortion law to individual states. Official Catholic teaching has long been against abortion even though as Americans, Catholics are just as likely to support abortion, or to have an abortion as the rest of the population. (Bruce, page 37) To overturn Roe v Wade took an enormous amount of sustained effort over 50 years. It took an alliance between Catholics and Evangelical Christians and put six Catholics on the Supreme Court, five of whom identify as traditionalists. There are of course, many Catholics, as well as Americans who claim a different faith tradition or none at all, who are not rejoicing, in fact some are very, very, angry.
Anger is the reason I want to look at the first part of Sunday’s Gospel, the part where disciples are sent by Jesus to a Samaritan village to get things ready for Jesus and the rest of the travelers. The people in the village were not accommodating to the disciples or Jesus because they were on their way to Jerusalem, a city with a rival faith tradition. “When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.” Jesus was not about vengeance or destruction. He was about love, inclusion, compassion, and patience. There is a follow up to this story found in the Book of Acts 8:4-25 when the disciples go to Samaria, preach the Good News, and add many Samaritans to the number of believers. God does not permanently write people off. People can change. Our opinions and our course of action can evolve – ours and the opinions and actions of others as well.
I have been very curious about how and why white Evangelicals became so anti-abortion. Then, on the way home from church, I happened on an interesting program on OPB that related how the Southern Baptist Convention had three times voted in the 1970s to affirm a woman’s right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy. This changed when southerner leaders, unhappy with desegregation, needed to find an issue to galvanize and mobilize voters. Specifically, they were unhappy that their segregated religious schools could not receive government funding. They also knew that racism would not be an acceptable organizing tool. Jerry Falwell joined with conservative political activist Paul Weyrich who was working to expand the Republican Party. They came up with the concept of the Moral Majority and hit on abortion as the issue that would rally what became the Christian Right. I have provided links to stories from NPR that shed light on their efforts and provide some answers as to how the Catholic position on life became so entwined with the Christian Right.
Catholic Teaching is anti-abortion, but it is also very much in favor of taking care of the poor, providing a living wage, welcoming immigrants, ending the death penalty, ensuring that people have basic needs met, and attending to the needs of creation. These are not issues that the Christian Right has advocated. I find it disturbing that issues important to the Christian Right have shown up in Catholic circles, issues like ending the separation between church and state, limiting welfare, supporting capital punishment, restricting immigration, and other racist policies.
If a post Roe v Wade world is going to avoid the pitfalls of the 1950’s and 60’s, and allow women, and minorities, to achieve and share their gifts in the world in a meaningful way, there is a good deal of work to be done. It is clear that we cannot take for granted other rights or freedoms that we have gained, but in this moment we need to remember that vengeful anger, like calling fire down from heaven, will not only worsen the divisions within the country and our church, it will further erode the relationships that Christians have with one another and with Jesus.
Breathe deeply. Think love, inclusion, compassion, and patience!
1. Fr. Jose Pagola. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Year C. Convivium. 2012.
2. Tricia Bruce, PhD. How Americans Understand Abortion. Online article @: https://news.nd.edu/assets/395804/how_americans_understand_abortion_final_7_15_20.pdf