Mothers, what would you do if you come to know that the child in your womb will certainly die minutes after its birth? How about if you are the father of that child? This was the fateful situation of a couple and a child named "Fountain" who was found incapable of developing herself because of the absence of water in the uterus of her mother. Without that basic substance, she will be purely dependent on her mothers sustenance. Why would a mother still undergo a pregnancy that would just result in the death of the child? Why not abort the child and spare the mother of the gruelling experience of carrying the child for nine months and laboring for nothing? "Cut loose and move on!"
It was not an easy decision for the parents of Fountain. Abortion meant "killing" an unborn child. It meant killing their own child. Even if she was not yet born, she was already alive. She was already a person. Is being freed from carrying her for nine months worth the abortion? Practical people would not find it hard to decide for abortion. But the parents of Fountain were not only practical people. They were very religious and faith-full Catholic Christians (Thanks be to God!). Specially in this situation, a Catholic does not decide merely on what is practical and easy, and on what is comfortable or inconvenient. The faithful Catholic depends on his God. The faithful Catholic asks guidance from his God. The faithful Catholic discerns. Salvation is always at the bottom line of every Catholic decision.
God was very kind to them. He gave them a sign. He led them to the full realization of what they believe is the best alternative for their angel Fountain. While in the waiting room of the clinic which would lay out for them what would be done, an article in a magazine on the receiving room table opened their eyes and hearts to the evil of what was being offered to them. It was just too much for them. They could not do it to their God-given angel. Against all odds, they decided for Fountain . They decided for God. They would see through the birth (and death) of Fountain.
Just recently, Fountain was born. As expected, merely minutes after the birth, she died. But not before she saw the light of day, the beauty of the world, and experience the sweet embraces and loving gazes of her parents and relatives. To top it all, she was also baptized before she passed away. Something that could not have been possible had she been aborted. It was an experience of joy and sadness, of birth and death, of hello and goodbye, and of living and dying. That is not really something new. Life is about all of those. The difference is just the time in between. To some it amounts to years. In the case of Fountain, only some minutes. But that does not determine the quality of life. It is the why and the how it is lived. Fountain lived because she was a gift of God. Fountain lived by letting her parents and all those who would hear her story know that life is precious and can be meaningful even if lived only for a moment. I would not be far off if I say that there are people who had lived a longer life but had not really lived meaningfully because they did not live for the right reason and the right way. In that measure, Fountain is a better person even for just a moment.
Life is a mystery in the same breath as death is also a mystery. God has a reason for letting us live. We have the responsibility to become according to His plan. The fullness of our life is not in how long we had lived it but whether it was lived according to Gods plan. God is the source of our life. God sustains our life. And God will be the destiny of our life. The hardest part in that cycle is the last part. It entails much of our decision. Hopefully, the destiny we will choose for our God-given life is the same destiny God had fashioned for it. Fountain was a God-given gift to us. Fountain was sustained by God in the short time she was with us. And Fountain was fully blessed because she is now back to her Giver!
Bless Fountain! Bless her parents! Bless lovers of life!
Angel Fountain, bless your parents. Angel Fountain, bless lovers of life!
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