If any season of the year can be called a Pro-Life season,
it would have to be Advent. At this time of the year, more
than any other, we are reminded of the Blessed Virgin Mary
carrying our Lord Jesus Christ in her womb. When Mary
said to the Angel of the Annunciation, “Let it be done to me
according to your word”, the second Person of the Trinity
took on life as a human being, conceived not by man, but
by the Holy Spirit. What is important for us to remember is
that if God the Son became man at the very moment of
conception, then what is true of Jesus is true of all
mankind: human life begins at conception. When little
more than a zygote, our Lord was acknowledged by yet
another unborn child, John the Baptist. This points to the
sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception.
As Advent is the time in which we prepare for the
celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas, it is
appropriate that we pause at this time to consider the
unborn Christ, the Son of God in His mother’s womb, and
the implications this has for all children still in the womb.
Human life is sacred because we are made in the image
and likeness of God. That image is present at the very
instant of conception and so human life is sacred from its
very beginning.
In addition, human life was further sanctified when God
became part of His own creation at the Annunciation. We
do well to respond just as did Mary: “Let it be done . . .
according to Your Word”.