My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In the Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1, our Lord Jesus Christ preaches with the inviting, even overwhelming, authority of the Son of God. “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority…” (Mk 1:22). Yet, despite the power of His words, and despite their amazement at His works, most of His hearers still chose to reject Him. The scribes (Mk 2:6) and the Pharisees (Mk 2:24) led the attack, and the people, although they craved the hope and salvation Jesus brings, too often remained too weighed down by their own sins to accept Him. “You do not want to come to me to have life” (Jn 5:40). But love is a gift. Although He could force His children’s obedience, Jesus Christ did not and does not compel love. Likewise, the Church, exercising the same authority, does not use it to compel. Rather, she lives, teaches, and proposes the truth of Christ’s love, but does not impose it.
The people of today are no different than those who first heard Jesus preach. As they were, we too are convicted by the powerful and gracious invitation of Christ’s love. As they did, so do we fear to surrender our control, to surrender to Him, even though we drive ourselves to perdition. It is universally part of the struggle against sin, concupiscence, and selfishness to “not want to come to me to have life.” We must be more humble, to admit our need for Him. Not everyone is willing; and we make every possible excuse not to surrender.
One of the most damaging of these excuses is a pervasive and false idea of freedom. The freedom of Christ is the freedom to love “without counting the cost” (see Lk 14:28). The world, corrupting this true freedom, preaches rather license, the freedom from external obligation. To be “free” in this way requires one not to love anyone or anything outside oneself, lest the object of love either demand a certain behavior (our fear of change), or wound by slipping from one’s grasp (our fear of loss). It is not surprising, then, that some people, including some of our country’s elected leaders, mistake in this way license for liberty and indulgence for compassion. Those who surrender to this false freedom tend to think, for example, that a child is a burden rather than a gift. They therefore support and promote a radical piece of pro-abortion legislation named the “Freedom of Choice Act,” or FOCA. FOCA has lurked on the floor of Congress for a decade. But now, President Obama has promised, to sign this legislation into law. Given the current makeup of Congress and their voting records, we who strive to understand the true freedom of Jesus Christ, and His gift of life, should fear this possibility.
Do not be misled by the name. FOCA promotes neither freedom nor choice. Contrary to how Christ leads, it does not propose or invite, but imposes and compels. It would impose the so-called “right” to abortion, in such a way that it could neither be limited nor regulated. Imagine, by way of comparison, how much more dangerous our roads would be without any traffic laws. Now imagine how much more horrifying would be the crime of abortion, without even the minimal limits and regulations now in place.
Since the Supreme Court’s “Planned Parenthood vs. Casey” decision of 1992, the right of the people, through the legislative branch, to regulate abortion has been explicitly recognized and protected. This has permitted the slow but steady creation of a great many local and state laws by the pro-life cause, and the gradual strengthening of that cause by our constant work and compassion. For example, currently, the federal government may not pay for abortions directly. Under FOCA, it would be required to do so, with your taxpayer dollars. Currently, many states and municipalities have established laws to regulate or limit abortion, such as waiting periods, parental consent for minors, and full disclosure of alternatives. Under FOCA, all these laws would be unconstitutional. Currently, the federal and state governments must protect the right of conscience of Catholics and others, who, as health care providers, want to care for mothers and children without being forced to take part in abortions. Under FOCA, this protection could not exist.
But the threat of FOCA is much larger than just the practice of abortion and the constitutionality of regulating it. By removing conscience protection laws, FOCA could also force the closure of every Catholic hospital in the country – including our three Catholic hospitals here in the Diocese of Sioux City. These three institutions care for over 200,000 patients annually in our Diocese. How much would their loss drive up the already soaring cost of your health care? FOCA could also force not only Catholics, but every health care worker, to choose between their faith and their career. Further, FOCA could change laws regarding the provision of health insurance, forcing Catholic institutions of all kinds to condone and fund abortions (and possibly other grave moral evils, such as embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, or abortifacient contraception) for their employees. This in turn would severely impact our Catholic nursing homes, schools, and even parishes. “You do not want to come to me to have life.” Given the reality of sin, faith is already hard enough. Do we really need to add the coercion of the state to all the other failings holding us back from surrender to Christ?
Therefore, I beg each of you to protest as loudly as possible against this tyranny. Every faithful Christian in the country is asked to stand up for Jesus Christ, who died for us. Stand for truth, and for life. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be strong and courageous enough to refuse the lure of selfish license. Surrender to Christ! Everyone, whose conscience has not been utterly suffocated, should be moved at least to support the Church’s post-card campaign against FOCA. This will be held in our parishes on the weekend of January 31 and February 1, 2009. This is not a campaign to change the law; this is a campaign to preserve your right to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, so that we, as Catholics and Americans, may continue to live and propose the Truth, for the good of our whole nation.
To support the Gospel of Life, we must do much more than simply defeat FOCA. But above all, trust always in the power of prayer. This battle is spiritual far more than it is political. Please, pray without ceasing for true wisdom and charity to illumine all our nation’s leaders. I thank God in you for His grace to stand valiantly beside the Cross and defend Truth, our faith, and our neighbor’s liberty. May all the graces and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ uphold you, and may He stir in your hearts the fires of faith, hope, and love.
Your brother in Christ,
Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless
Bishop of Sioux City