Planned Parenthood & Pope Francis' Call to Take the Gospel to the Peripheries

No doubt you have heard by now that the Pope is coming to our country.

I am sure you have also heard how early in his pontificate Pope Francis called the Church a field hospital and urged us, its members, to go out in to the peripheries to proclaim the Gospel. He has led the way many times such as when he washed the feet of the marginalized and forgotten on Holy Thursday and visited recovering drug addicts and prisoners in July.

These dark corners of society are clearly the peripheries he means us to illumine with the light of Christ. In a homily to new cardinals on Sunday, February 15 he also exhorted that we should see “the crucified Lord in the hungry and the unemployed, those who are in prison and even in those who have lost their faith, or declared themselves to be atheists, or turned away from the practice of the faith.”

This image of our suffering Lord in those who have lost their way suggests another, perhaps less-obvious periphery. Some who are employed and well-fed might be most in-need of the field hospital. It could be said that a place of dark unbelief and spiritual blindness might be lurking somewhere unexpected; somewhere that looks less like a margin of society and more like an elite hall of power.

In this moment of American history we can simultaneously watch the Senate’s failure on August 3, to defund Planned Parenthood and see videos of the powerful and well-educated leaders of Planned Parenthood enthusiastically discussing the trafficking of aborted baby parts. We see government attempting to extinguish our religious liberty through the HHS contraceptive mandate and other laws that disrespect our freedom of conscience. Indeed, the halls of Congress seem to constitute a periphery in dire need of the light of Christ.

So, even as we visit the shut in and feed the poor we must also shine the Gospel of Life on the legislative process. When grassroots Americans raise their many voices as one, Congress listens. Contact your federal legislators and let them know you expect them to use their power to defend the defenseless and to support laws that respect human life and liberty.

The Human Life Action Center of NCHLA makes it easy for you to speak truth to power. Through our email alert system we can generate email messages directed specifically to your members of Congress. We track federal legislation pertaining to life and liberty issues, so you don’t have to. All you have to do is respond to the action alerts and contact your members. You can reach share the Truth about life right now, in under a minute. Click here to tell Congress to defund Planned Parenthood then send a message asking the House and Senate to protect our religious liberty and conscience rights. Two minutes of your time can build the culture of life and make a difference in our nation’s laws.

Please follow us on Twitter @nchla and sign up for action alerts here. Never again miss an opportunity to bring the truth of Christ to the peripheries of power.