Science discovers ‘zinc spark’ at conception; Catholics urged to oppose Idaho initiative

By Jim Chmelik

St. Mary’s Parish

Cottonwood, Idaho

Did you know that science has discovered that when the egg of the woman meets the sperm of the man, there is a spark, like a flash of light, called a “zinc spark”?

This is a flash of billions of zinc ions released at the very instant of fertilization.

From that very moment, a human being has been created. I know there is nothing definitive in this scientific discovery; however, this should make us pause and ponder our existence. Is science showing us the existence of God?

We should look with awe and wonder — that is the beauty and the beginning of a new life; is it possible that at this very moment the light of the soul is infused; the two become one, and this new person is intricately connected for all eternity with the mystery that is creation?

Everything about this new person, from its sex, the color of hair and eyes, personality traits and a host of other marvelous qualities, has been set in motion, and a one-of-a-kind, unrepeatable person of both body and soul has been brought into existence.

The amazing development which takes place over the next 266 days is phenomenal. Within four weeks after fertilization, there is a beating heart.

By 10 weeks, the new child can suck its thumb, swallow, grasp an object, touch its face, sigh and stretch out in his or her mother’s womb.

By 27 weeks, the child can recognize the voices of his or her parents, the eyes can respond to light, and the sense of smell has developed.

This did not happen by chance, and every day we are witnesses to the design of creation by an intelligence we cannot fathom; this is the creative reasoning and intelligence of a loving entity who seeks the best for what He has created.

This is the action of a caring Father who seeks to be in relationship with us — to spend eternity with us. He also wants us to be in a relationship with one another, bound by His love and to share that love with each other.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I dedicated you.”

I hope these words have led you to contemplate the presence of your own creation, from the very point of conception to this moment right now in your life; you are a miracle, and God has had a plan for you.

Sadly, for some, this miracle will never come to fruition.

Right now, there is an initiative in Idaho titled the Reproduction Freedom and Privacy Act, also known as Proposition 1. This initiative is radically pro-abortion and would allow abortion well into the third trimester and even up to birth in some cases.

It is an intrusion upon parents’ rights that would allow teenage girls to get abortions without parental consent.

The act also does away with the doctor requirement to perform an abortion by replacing it with the term “medical professional.” This is not health care in any sense of the Hippocratic oath, and it is an abomination against the one who created us.

And what about the poor mother who must carry the burden of this abortion with her the rest of her life? What about her well-being?

These issues are tough to debate and to fight against, and not everyone has the expertise to engage in the dialogue to defeat those who are working to gather signatures.

However, there is something we all can do: pray.

The Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto by Paolo Veronese (c. 1572, Venice) Public domain.

Within the Catholic Church, throughout all of its history, God is always there. The great Battle of Lepanto, when the Christian armada was outnumbered in ships and men, the intercession to our Virgin Mother won the day, and victory was the Lord’s.

We need to start right now with making a weekly holy hour within our parishes dedicated to this purpose of defeating this initiative.

Just as when Pope Saint Pius V ordered the churches of Rome opened for prayer day and night, encouraging the faithful to petition the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the recitation of the Rosary, we too need to petition our Lord for victory.

Where two or more are gathered, so too is our Lord. Let us not assume someone else will do this. We are all called to this battle, for if God is with us, who can be against us.