By Kevin and Theresa Burke
A commonly held belief holds that to ensure continued progress and advancement of the human family, science and religion must remain fundamentally separated and opposed to each other.
Bishop Robert Barron responds directly to this misguided conclusion: “The Catholic Church has always recognized that reason, and what is revealed in natural law, is an aspect of God’s revelation.”
He remarks that Copernicus, Newton, Kepler, Pascal and renowned 19th century physicists Faraday and Maxwell were devoutly religious. Barron adds, “The formulator of the Big Bang theory, Georges Lemaitre, was a priest.”
As we journey to the end of Lent and the events of Holy Week, we can affirm Bishop Barron’s insights while exploring recent developments in the field of biology.
Here we discover an even deeper appreciation of the events of Good Friday, and the unique relationship between Jesus, Mary and the Eucharist. We also learn how recent science helps us better understand the emotional, physical and spiritual suffering of women after an abortion loss.
Physician Timothy Millea writes of the phenomenon known as microchimerism.
“In the first few weeks after conception, cells from both mother and baby pass back and forth across the placenta. During pregnancy, up to 10 percent of the DNA in the mother’s bloodstream comes from her baby. After the baby is born, the percentage of the baby’s DNA in the mother drops, but some cells remain functional for the rest of the mother’s life.
Dr. Millea said the cells of a mother’s child can been found in her blood and all major organs, including the heart. This awareness helps us gain an even deeper appreciation of the intimate physical relationship between a mother and her preborn, and adult, children.
With that in mind, we return to the hill of Calvary and the events of Good Friday. After hours of brutal torture, Jesus makes a profound gesture to the Apostle John and his Mother Mary at the foot of his cross:
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’” (John 19:26-27).
Reflecting on the presence of the cells of the incarnated Word of God in the body of Mary, it deepens our appreciation of the profound intimacy shared between Jesus and His mother, and her unique participation in His work of salvation.
As Mary beholds the brutal torture of her son, she enters more deeply into her vocation as mother of the Redeemer. While surely suffering her own anguish as a mother, she remains steadfast at the foot of the cross, providing a loving, comforting, maternal presence during the final hours of Jesus’ life.
This unique biological connection also helps us appreciate the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, when, after the completion of her earthly life, the Blessed Mother was assumed, body and soul, into heaven.
This dogma has further significance when we consider the unique and ongoing role of Mary in the mission of the Church, evident in the apparitions of Gaudalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima.
The Blessed Mother appeared to these visionaries not as a ghost or disembodied spirt, but like Jesus after the resurrection, in body and soul. When asked to describe their experience of the Blessed Mother, all mentioned Mary’s great mystical beauty and maternal love, which mere words cannot fully describe.
When we integrate this understanding of Microchimerism into what the Church teaches about the Real Presence of the Blessed Sacrament (that is, the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine) we encounter a great mystery.
As members of Christ’s body, we share an intimate spiritual and physical relationship with Jesus…and Mary. With our reception of the Eucharist, Mary is now, on a physical and spiritual level, truly our Mother in faith.
Microchimerism and Abortion Loss
The phenomena of Microchimerism has a special relevance to parents of aborted children.
After attending a Rachel’s Vineyard abortion healing weekend, a participant shared something we have heard countless times from mothers of aborted children:
“After my abortion, I felt like I lost part of myself, something in me died that day when I went in for the procedure. I got on with my life, but I was haunted at times by that decision, by the child I rejected.”
Science now reveals to us that abortion is not primarily about reproductive rights nor is it just another hot-button issue in our ongoing culture wars. It’s about an intimate relationship of a mother with her developing child. Even after the child’s life is ended, the baby’s cells live on in the mother.
Abortion is a deeply wounding physical, emotional and spiritual loss for a pregnant mother, and for fathers, as well. As the discoveries in Microchimerism reveal, this is a natural response to an intimate loss. It also points to the need for a healing of the parent/child relationship that has been damaged by abortion.
If you, or a loved one have participated in any way in the death of a preborn child, remember the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, and reach out for spiritual and emotional healing.
In the days after the death of Jesus, his disciples were isolated and afraid, sequestered in the Upper Room. Jesus appeared to them, sharing a message, one that speaks to each of us in the paschal mystery of our own lives.
Jesus tells them, “Do not be afraid,” and granted them the most profound and blessed peace.
May this great Shalom of Jesus be with you this Holy Week and Easter season.
Kevin Burke, MSS, and Theresa Burke, Ph.D., are pastoral associates of Priests for Life and founders of Rachel’s Vineyard.
