The Unknown Army ...Fr. James Reuter, SJ
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The United Nations proclaims with pride that 60 million babies were killed in the womb of their mothers, last year. We have statues in honor of “ The Unknown Soldier”. I wonder that this Unknown Army-the 60 million who were never born -I wonder what they would have done. They might have changed the face of the earth! But they were never born.
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Once upon a time, long long ago, when I was in radio school at Fordham University in New York City, I acted on a radio play. It was produced by a strong apostolic group called “Integrity”.
It was unusual play because all the characters in it, except one, had never been born. I was the first to appear. I was a young priest, newly ordained singing the Preface in my first Mass. They cast me in that roll because I was really a young priest, and I know how to sing the Preface of the Mass.
While I was singing, the voice over said: “This would have been my first Mass. My father and mother would have been very proud on this day. When the mass was over, I would have come down and blessed them, and kissed them, and my mother would have wept for the joy of it…… but I was never born!
“ There is a village in Africa where I was supposed to go. The rest of the world might never had heard of me, but to that village I make all the difference! They will never hear of God now, because…… I was never born!”
“I would have been the 7th son. But they had a meeting over me, and they decided that six was enough!……. So I was never born!”
Saint Ignatius Loyola who founded the Society of Jesus, was the 7th son, the 11th child, in a family of 13 children….. Cardinal Sin was the 15th child, in a family of 16 children.
Saint Catherine of Sienna was believed to be the 25th child of the same mother, Mona Lapa. The Bolandist, who were the historians , were enraged at this. They said: “Alright! The Italians want to honor the dignity of motherhood! But no woman has 25 children!”
So they went up to Sienna and got all the birth certificates. They got all the baptismal certificates. They got all the death certificates. Then they went into the cemetery and counted all the tombstones! And they discovered that Mona Lapa did not have 25 children!……She had 26!
Saint Catherine was really the 25th child, but she had a baby sister who was the 26th …..and Saint Catherine is one of the three women who are doctors of Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church!
The second character in the radio play, at Fordham in New York, was a little girl. She was breathless. She said: sweet voice, very gentle, very quiet, very refined she said:
“I am a school teacher. I am 27 years old. I am not married. And I will never marry, because- the boy that God wanted me to marry…..He was never born”.
I know so may girls who are so beautiful, intelligent, refined, gentle-and they are not married. I just wonder. Maybe their children- the children God meant them to have- are outside the rain, looking through the window, and saying: “ That’s my Mommy!”
And maybe, a young man with children is looking at her nicely, and saying: “ That’s my wife”! But they had a meeting over him. And he was never born.
The United Nations proclaims with pride that 60 million babies were killed in the womb of their mothers, last year. We have statues in honor of “ The Unknown Soldier”. I wonder that this Unknown Army-the 60 million who were never born -I wonder what they would have done. They might have changed the face of the earth! But they were never born.
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