Healing the Shockwaves of Abortion, an initiative to raise awareness of the various groups of people impacted by the loss of a child to abortion, in December calls on all priests, pastors and clergy members to preach about the healing power of the Lord in this season of Advent.
“December, and the Advent season, lead us to cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus!" Aware as we are of the many wounds abortion brings, we are more deeply aware of our need for the Savior who comes with healing in his wings,” said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and pastoral director of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, which launched Shockwaves nearly two years ago.
Georgette Forney, president of Anglicans for Life and co-founder of Silent No More, noted that for mothers and fathers who have lost a child to abortion, December can bring about a melancholy tied to the awareness that someone is missing from the family celebration of Jesus’s birth.
"I often wonder what my baby’s First Christmas ornaments on the tree would look like, and what she would be doing now,” she said. “It is in these moments when I am most grateful that Jesus came to save a sinner like me.”
Janet Morana, executive director of Priests for Life and co-founder of Silent No More, said that for Catholics, Pope Francis’s recent announcement that all priests throughout the world will continue to be authorized to bring people to full reconciliation after the sin of abortion dovetails nicely with the December Shockwaves theme, Come Lord Jesus!
“The international conversation sparked by the pope’s announcement raises awareness that abortion is a sin that impacts the Church as well as society,” she said. “Forgiveness is available to all who seek it, no matter how they may have been complicit in abortion.
Kevin Burke, co-founder of Rachel’s Vineyard and a Shockwaves architect, said “The Advent and Christmas seasons can be a time of abundant grace and new opportunities for spiritual growth, healing and joy, even for those harmed by the loss of a child to abortion. In fact, this loss can lead us to a deeper faith.”
Healing the Shockwaves of Abortion is an international educational and pastoral effort, launched in January 2015 by the Silent No More Awareness Campaign with the aim of raising awareness about and ministering to a wide variety of groups of people who are impacted when a child is killed by abortion. These groups include mothers, father, grandparents, siblings, survivors, friends, pro-life advocates and those who perform or advocate abortion.