Recently I received an e-mail from one of my nieces that she is pregnant with her third child who will be born in April of next year.  The conception of a child brings the joy of anticipation of birth.  Each one of us was a source of joy when we were conceived in the wombs of our mothers.  Her mother, my sister, was pregnant with her eleventh child back in 1989 and was told she had breast cancer.  Before the diagnosis my sister thought the lump in her breast was a milk duct that had gotten hard.  As she was told she had cancer and was just eight months pregnant, the doctor told her the best thing to do was to remove the child from the womb so treatment for the cancer could begin immediately.  Instead my sister waited another four weeks until the baby was formed enough, had the breast removed and went through the chemo treatment.  Both her and the daughter born from that pregnancy are alive and well today.  Not only was the conception of her last child good news as a new life, it was also good news in that this child growing in her womb probably saved the life of her mother.

This past week I received the very sad news from parents in our parish that their five year old son had died.  In their sorrow and grief they donated his organs to help other children live.  Sorrow and grief did not stop them from bringing good news to other parents and their children.

In today’s gospel we hear the account from St.  Matthew of the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary.  At first this was not good news for her husband to be, Joseph.  But because he had a good loving heart and great trust in God, Mary was not exposed publicly and punished by the law for being pregnant out of wedlock.  Joseph believed the message of the angel in his dream and "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home." But as we know from the Bible, this was not the end of threats to the life of Jesus.  As soon as he was born King Herod found out that Jesus was special, considered him a threat to his position as king and began the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

Christmas is our celebration of the birth of Jesus.  His birth is the beginning of the ultimate Good News for all people.  In fact, his conception in the womb which we celebrated nine months earlier on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, was the seed of that Good News coming to fruition.  The pregnancy of Mary was not easy.  She did not have the luxury of resting comfortably until his birth.  Along with Joseph her husband she had to journey to be counted in the census by the Romans.  It was in Bethlehem that Jesus was born in a stable. With all of the obstacles that could have changed the course of human history, God’s way prevailed because of the faith, love and goodness of Joseph and Mary.  God’s way continues to prevail each time we support, welcome and rejoice with women carrying children in their wombs.

A few weeks ago members of our Parish Pro-life Family asked us to join with them in signing a petition to prevent Governor Spitzer’s "Reproductive Health and Privacy Act" (S.5829), which is really an extreme abortion bill.  If passed it would force doctors to perform abortions, force hospitals, even Catholic hospitals, to allow abortions, force health insurance plans to cover abortions and force employers to purchase abortion coverage.  This bill would guarantee abortion in New York State at any time during the nine months of pregnancy for any or no reason.  Any hint of objection could be labeled "discrimination" and dealt with accordingly.  This information comes from the New York State Catholic Conference (info@nyscatholic.org).  What bad news in the midst of our preparations for celebrating Christmas.  It shows that the forces of evil, seen so clearly in the actions of King Herod as he slaughtered the Holy Innocents, are alive and wreaking havoc, suffering and death.  Jesus came and faced the forces of evil. Out of what seemed to be victory for evil came the Resurrection, where Jesus conquered sin and death.  I encourage you to join with me in calling our State Senator through the Senate switchboard (518-455-2800) or to e-mail our Senator through the New York State Catholic web site at www.nyscatholic.org.

Father Walden