This past Wednesday marked the 47th anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which has facilitated the deaths of more than 60 million American children. The Catholic Church in the United States observes a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children every year on Jan. 22.

The readings appointed for Holy Mass on Wednesday were providential. They included the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand (Mark 3). This Gospel, though admittedly in a different context, asks an essential question, upon which the lives of countless millions of our brothers and sisters depend: Jesus asks the Pharisees, “Is it legal ... to save life rather than to destroy it?”

We are rightly proud of those who are in Washington, D.C., today, witnessing to God’s own answer to this question. Despite the fact that tens of thousands participate in the March for Life, we know that to worldly eyes, they can look very much as David looked to Goliath. And worldly people hold them in contempt, just as Goliath mocked David and held him in contempt.

Abortion is murder, but it is also an act of impiety. It “mocks” the design of God not only by destroying natural life, but by preventing the sacramental entrance of countless children into the life of the Church by baptism. ... But God will not be mocked. His visible triumph might be long in coming, but it will come.

And in worldly terms, we are “David.” But we can look to David as a model for supernatural reasons, and have confidence. It's important to remember that David's zeal was kindled not by battle-lust or patriotism, or even exclusively by the physical threat of the Philistine army, but rather by Goliath's impiety. Recall that earlier in this same chapter from 1 Samuel, Goliath had mocked the armies of Israel, leading David to say of him: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should insult the armies of the living God?” (emphasis added).

Abortion is murder, but it is also an act of impiety. It “mocks” the design of God not only by destroying natural life, but by preventing the sacramental entrance of countless children into the life of the Church by baptism. Here I hasten to add, following the teaching of Pope St. John Paul II, that we must entrust children who die before baptism into the hands of our loving and merciful Father in heaven. Nevertheless, abortion snuffs out the lives of millions of potential disciples and saints each year.

But God will not be mocked. His visible triumph might be long in coming, but it will come.

There is a passage from Pope Francis’ encyclical Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel,” par. 85) that I believe fits very well here. Though Pope Francis wrote these words regarding evangelization in general, they fit with our proclamation of the Gospel of Life. The Holy Father writes:

Nobody can go off to battle unless he is fully convinced of victory beforehand. If we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents. While painfully aware of our own frailties, we have to march on without giving in, keeping in mind what the Lord said to Saint Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Christian triumph is always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner borne with aggressive tenderness against the assaults of evil.

We might have only the stature of David, and we might face a foe that in worldly terms is utterly fearsome and intimidating, but we must never lose heart. God will be victorious, and the right to life will be vindicated. In the meantime, we must be the heralds through whom God's will is given voice. And (to borrow Our Lady’s words from her Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55) in a world that still clings to darkness and the shadow of death, we must be the instruments through which people's feet are guided into the way of peace.

Fr. Charles Fox is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit currently assigned to the theology faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He is also a weekend associate pastor at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township and chaplain and a board member of St. Paul Evangelization Institute, headquartered in Warren.