I was blessed to meet Theresa Bonopartis when she came to my seminary, St. Joseph’s, in New York, when I was a student there from 2002-06. She shared her story of having an abortion, the suffering she went through, and the healing and mercy that she found in God. I’ve never forgotten her story, and I’ve read it a few times, always touched by her honesty and humanity and what God has done in her life.
Here’s the opening: “‘We are to show to those in need His goodness to ourselves . . .’ This phrase at Mass speaks to my heart. It reminds me of the despair, the grief, the pain of abortion from which Christ delivered me. It reminds me also of my duty to give hope to those still suffering, to help point the way to a place of shelter and peace in the heart of Jesus. And so, I relate my experience–unique and personal, but not unlike the stories of many other women. But this story is not, finally, about me. It’s about our good and merciful God . . . always there, wanting to forgive us and to make us whole again.”