The Sign of Jonah

By Cathy of Alex

Today (Monday, March 9, 2009), President Obama is expected to sign legislation allowing embryonic stem cells to be used for medical research. Eight years ago, President Bush restricted the use of embryonic stem cells by denying the use of new lines.

Like many in the pro-life movement, I heard this news late Friday. I was so horrified that I did not know how to react. A headline in the press yesterday said this legislation "will breath new LIFE into medical research."

This is no time to be clever or make light of the horror that is upon us, though I'm sure the headline writer applauded himself for his creativity.

How long will it be before we see embryos created for the express purpose of being destroyed so they can be harvested for stem cells? How long will it be before these new embroyos are no longer discarded aborted embroyos or cryogenicically frozen embroyos in sperm banks but early-term fetuses in the womb that will be harvested maybe because the gender of the embroyo is not what the parent desires or it is determined that the embroyo has "issues"?

Earlier this week, Washington became the second state in our nation to enact a "death with dignity" law. Isn't that clever? Would you rather die with dignity or live with dignity? Define: dignity. Is dignity only defined by choice? Choice to kill. Kill yourself, kill your ailing parent, kill your patient, kill your child. This is dignity? Sounds like murder to me.

We are surrounded by death. We are a culture of death peddlers. Death enablers. We managed to isolate DNA. We can grow babies. We think we are gods-not gardeners.

We are gardeners. God created and gave us this Garden to take care of and we are failing miserably. We are not caring for much of anything or anyone. We certainly are destroying it well. We don't tend, we bulldoze.

How many times has God looked down and thought about smiting us? How many times have we been spared? How many times has God shown mercy upon us who don't deserve it because of the penance and fervant prayers of a few? Perhaps our brothers and sisters in religious orders, engaged in continual prayer on our behalf, have done us more of a favor than we may ever know?

The people of Ninevah took seriously the shouts of the prophet Jonah: "40 days and Ninevah will be overthrown!" We are in 40 days of Lent right now. Coincidence? The people of Ninevah did penance, fasted and repented; from the King on down to the cattle in the field. God spared them.

Pray that this continual assault on life is the Sign. With all this extreme disrespect for life, will more pro-"choice" and pro-death people FINALLY realize things have gone too far and repent and turn away and start advocating for life?

If we don't repent we will be destroyed.

Today I'm going to fast, do penance, and pray to the Lord tomorrow in reparation for this horror and to beg, yes beg, for His mercy.

May God have mercy on us all.

Cross posted to The Recovering Dissident Catholic