Last Thursday I went back to the cinema and here I am again, in front of a blank page. I went to the preview of  Wounded , one of those documentaries that leaves your heart racing because of its impact.

And that’s because  Heridos speaks directly to the heart. And it does so by also passing through the intellect. Through that little head that loves to label and rationalize everything.

The film is a documentary that talks about abortion and does so, moreover, through those strange coincidences that occur, at a time when the confrontation on this issue is very present in Spain.

And what isn’t? I wonder. I look around and I think a few things are free from that battle between two sides.

In the midst of all this, this film appears, which, as its director, Borja Martínez Echevarría, says, aims to be a white flag in the midst of the struggle. Without judgment. Without attacks. With great respect and simplicity. With the disarmament of words, as Pope Leo XIV asked, and with great mercy.

The secret: 4 lives. 4 people with names and surnames who, in a display of courage and great generosity, dare to tell their story. The most sacred thing. The most intimate thing: the wounds of their hearts.

Our hearts feel. Our hearts, as the core and essence of a person, suffer and are wounded. Sometimes these wounds are small scratches that heal without a problem with simple and quick treatment. Other times, however, they are so deep that healing them requires a long and patient process.

Sometimes we know they’re there, and other times they’re invisible. We try to cover them up and silence them, but they’re there, festering, even if just a little. Enough for you to know something’s happening inside, even if you don’t want to look at it.

These 4 people: Carlos, Mónica, Moni and Thynna open their hearts to the viewer to tell their stories: the one caused by abortion.

Abortion, which they keep telling us is a right. That accepting it is normal, and that not doing so is backward. Abortion, that is a symbol of progress and advancement as a modern society. That it makes us more progressive and free… there are many arguments, and the narrative always points in the same direction.

And in the midst of the battle, swimming against the current like salmon, people like Borja and company appear, raising a white flag of peace and putting on the table the argument of a person’s life. In this case, four.

An argument against which there is no other option but to take off your shoes and remain silent. To take off your shoes and silence all those ideas and ideologies that disregard the person and their nature in order to place themselves on the throne and be worshiped. And barefoot, to stop and look and listen.

Because in the end, it all seems to lead to the same place. And that is the question of what we worship and turn into our gods. A culture that removes God puts other idols in his place. A society that “kills” God in the name of freedom becomes enslaved to ideologies. There is always an idol.

But God is God, and He is there, and He always will be. Even if you don’t see Him. Even if you insist on denying Him. Even if you don’t love Him. He is there, and what’s more, He is always waiting for you, which is what amazes me most.

Carlos, Mónica, Moni, and Thynna, putting themselves on the line without getting into arguments, with the simplicity of their story and the feeling of being loved and forgiven, disarm you of your prejudices. And the incredible thing is that they disarm you, no matter which side you’re on.

And how often, even within the Catholic world, do we dare to judge those who have abortions? How often do we focus solely on the act and not the person? How often do we adopt the position of the Pharisee and those men who were about to stone the woman in the Gospel? How many stones do we throw with our judgments and prejudices? How often, when we take the position of perfect followers of the law, when we remove love and mercy from the equation… I know, many times.

We forget the greatness and immensity of each person. That we are more than our actions, and that we are no one to judge. We sometimes forget that Jesus, the great physician of the soul, made and continues to make all things new each day; and that, with his cross, he showed us the great mercy of God. That mercy that heals. That mercy that forgives and changes lives. That mercy that always welcomes the prodigal son and forgives him.

Jesus teaches us that only He can judge the heart, and that the only side worth belonging to is the one whose weapons are love, hope, and forgiveness. The side that doesn’t call people enemies and that seeks truth and goodness through dialogue, not exclusion.

Sometimes, I myself go into battle mode and start labeling those in front of me as the enemy to be defeated. It happens to me a lot when I watch the news. And that is the great triumph of evil: division and confrontation. The distribution and categorization into sides where we forget that ideas are debated, but that people should always be respected.

You may not like an idea, and that’s a good thing! But people are sacred.

A society that suppresses arguments against its ideas and principles, and that silences a segment of the population, ceases to be a free society, regardless of what it defends.

Wherever you are on your journey, I can’t help but encourage you to go to the cinema this coming weekend.  Here’s the information about the film and the cinemas where it will be shown.

Let’s support these salmon-like individuals who pull us out of the everyday indecisiveness and lukewarmness. Who show us the truth of what it really means to live.

Because to truly live means getting your hands dirty. Falling and getting back up. Living means embracing your wounds so they can heal. It means welcoming your vulnerability so you can welcome the vulnerability of others. It means walking alongside others, accompanying them, and allowing yourself to be accompanied. Likewise, it means looking at the path while never taking your eyes off the horizon. It means finding meaning even in suffering.

To live is to know that it is good to have been born and that all life has a meaning.