Welcome to our annual Memorial Mass for the Unborn. We are here tonight out of love: love for unborn children at risk in the very place they should be safest – the womb; love for the ones who are killed every day in our city; love for the mothers and families drawn into this tragedy by thinking abortion is their only option. Tonight’s Mass is a chance for us to mourn for the little ones who never got to see the light of day, to intercede for eternal life for them, and to pray also for their families, doctors and community so damaged in the process. We join bereaved parents, offering forgiveness, love and support.

My dream is of a world in which no woman is even tempted to abortion because abortion is unthinkable. In such a world people would, like St. Paul in our epistle tonight, think of each person as a temple of God (1Cor 3:16-17). They would regard the killing of an innocent person as the desecration of a church and the aborting of a pregnant mother like burning down the mother church that is the Cathedral. But such a world will only come about if no woman is pressured into abortion by spouse or partner, by relative or friend, by employer or co-worker, by doctor or genetic counsellor, by economic circumstances or social stigma, by loneliness or fear. Such a dream may only become reality if no new mother is left isolated and ashamed but rather every mother affirmed and encouraged in every way.

These are extracts.  To read the full homily go here

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