Two weeks after giving birth to her second child, Julia Schoch received an e-mail that would forever change her life. It was February 2003, and she was at home recovering from a C-section with her husband, her two-year-old son, and her newborn daughter when her husband Andy told her she had an e-mail that she needed to see immediately. It was from a friend who knew of a 13-year-old pregnant rape victim who needed help. It turned out that Julia was exactly the help this girl and her baby needed. “It’s one of those kind of bizarre God stories,” explains Julia, “I’d been involved in pro-life stuff since high school, and I had monitored a message board for CBR [The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform]. I would come into contact with people who were post-abortive. In that, I met a woman who had an abortion at 18 weeks and five days, and I ended up becoming friends with her. Over two years of encouraging her and loving her, she finally felt ready to share her story. She was telling [that] story at a Campus Crusade for Christ event at her campus. In the audience, was a young woman who shared that her 13-year-old sister had been raped and was pregnant. Their mother was pressuring her to abort the baby. This girl was reaching out for help.” Julia knew that if she asked this young girl, just an 8th-grader, to go against her mother, she would need to make it a practical, realistic option. She immediately started praying that it was God’s plan for her to adopt this baby. Then, while she was nursing her daughter and praying about adopting, she realized Andy would think she was nuts. Adoption hadn’t been on their radar. They hadn’t ever researched it or budgeted for it. But just then, Andy walked into the room and told Julia that he wanted to adopt the baby.
“It was just that gut feeling that God gives you sometimes,” Julia explains. Julia let her friend know that she and her husband wanted to adopt the baby, and then continued to pray. Finally, she heard back that the girl was willing to talk with her, so Julia, her friend, and the young girl – states away – chatted on the phone. Julia found out some disconcerting information. The girl had already gone to a clinic for an abortion. She told Julia that she was at the abortion clinic for six hours, and that the clinic tested her for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and performed an ultrasound. However, they wouldn’t allow her to look at the ultrasound and didn’t inform her of the results of the STD tests. But that wasn’t the most astounding part. The clinic informed her that she was 20 weeks pregnant, but that at 20 weeks, the baby wasn’t formed yet. That was lie number one. They went on to tell her that if she did have the baby, she wouldn’t survive labor because she was so young. That was lie number two. When the girl asked about adoption, the clinic told her that no one would want to adopt a “biracial” “rapist’s baby.” That was lie number three. Pray for an end to our culture of death. June 18 is a special day for me as I experienced the miracle of life in the birth of one of my children. Stories like Julies help me to realize that we can end the murder of innocent babies if we pray and ask God to use us as his vessel in this important fight.
I am just beginning to dive into the beautiful, ancient devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus, and I wanted to share a bit of the journey with you. It can feel a little overwhelming at first to look at the Crucifix this closely, but I’ve found such a gentle guide in St. Bernard of Clairvaux . In his Jubilee Rhythm on the Passion, Bernard doesn't treat the wounds of Jesus as distant historical facts or sights to be avoided. Instead, he approaches them with the tenderness of a friend, speaking directly to the feet, hands, side, and face of our Lord. For someone like me who is just starting out, his rhythm teaches that prayer isn't just about reciting words; it’s a holy hide-and-seek. Bernard invites us to literally hide ourselves within these wounds, seeing them as clefts in the rock where we can find shelter when our own lives feel turbulent or heavy. As I start this process, I’ve been practicing what I call gazing and greeting. Following Bernard’s lead, I look at the Crucifix an...