The Magi then and now
Christmas is a birthday; and though it happened long past, that first event is present in more than merely festive ways. It echoes strangely in recent events.
One thousand nine hundred and eighty five years ago, three men traveled long distances to witness the birth of a baby. Each felt compelled to go, out of wonder, out of respect for the new King, out of love, or fear, or honour, or duty. Each man, by his presence, testified to the significance of the event. For them, it was the end of a long and hard journey; for the rest of us, as we now know, it was the beginning.
In Toronto recently, Morgentaler’s abortion mill was the site of the arrest of three modern “magi” – clergy, all. The death of our children at this place was attested by the presence and the actions of these three men. Like the ancient magi, each one independently knew what was happening there and what was expected of him. They came from different countries and met “on the road” as it were, in the pro-life movement.
Each felt he had to go to protest at the abortion mill, out of respect for new life, out of love, out of knowledge of what is really being done there, out of honour, out of duty.
Our modern magi, by their actions, have exposed the hypocrisy of our politicians. The politicians are trying to cool down the protest, to reduce pickets, to ignore them, to pretend that abortions don’t really happen. Metro Toronto Police have even been given orders not to arrest anyone associated with the abortuary which continues to dispense death illegally.
With our attention now drawn to celebrating a birth, abortion pricks our conscience the more, and we remember the far larger, and largely invisible, crime. Our fight to close illegal abortuaries should not blind us to the hundreds, the thousands of killings performed quietly in our hospitals.
Christmas and New Year is a time for reflection and for stock-taking. Take a good look at the pro-lifers and modern “magi” around you; set aside – for the moment – the lapses and irritations and inadequacies; is there not much to be grateful for? Love your enemy, yes; but don’t forget to let your friends and fellows know you love and appreciate them. Then we’ll all return to the fray, refreshed.
It’s Christmas!
