The first reading and the Gospel passage echo the theme of God as our Shepherd. It is in the Second Reading that we see exactly how Christ shepherds us – through the reconciliation achieved in his blood. He shepherds us not simply by teaching us, but by destroying the very power of death.
The Church’s pro-life efforts are to be seen and presented in this context, that is, as an aspect of the reconciliation of the world with God in Christ. The “enmity” of which St. Paul speaks has many dimensions, and in its widest spiritual sense includes the enmity that all sin places between us and God, and between us and one another.
The exaltation of individual “choice” above our responsibilities to the lives of others, especially our children, creates a destructive enmity. The peace that Christ gives is not something to be received only in an internal, spiritual way, but is a reality that transforms relationships, cultures, and nations. That peace demands respect for life and a rejection of the enmity that constitutes the culture of death.
Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Ken