UNBORN WORD of the day

Linda Kaul Robertson The Child Among the Reeds

This week the Old Testament readings at Mass concern Moses, beginning with Pharaoh’s proclamation: “Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews…”(Ex 1:22) We all are familiar with the story of his mother placing baby Moses in a watertight basket among the reeds along the river bank where he would be found.

In a speech given on January 22, 2001, Bishop John Elya shares a quote from his friend and fellow Bishop, recently deceased, Austin Vaughan, who had been arrested many times for peacefully protesting in front of abortion facilities. The quote relates to the Exodus readings of this week. The following is from Bishop Elya’s speech:

“I was brought to tears, ten years ago, when I heard a classmate of mine, Bishop Austin Vaughan , Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, of blessed memory. At a meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC, He said:

‘Among the slaughters of innocent persons in the history of mankind, two slaughters stand out: the slaughter of Hebrew children by the Pharaoh, and the slaughter of the infants by Herod after the birth of our Lord. One infant saved from the earlier killing was Moses; the infant saved from Herod’s slaughter was Jesus. Any effort of ours to save even a single life is worthwhile.‘