2. About the Gospel of Life: Part 1
The first section of the encyclical is entitled, The Voice of Your Brother's Blood Cries to Me From the Ground. It offers an extensive analysis of the threats to life, and, lest we drown in a sea of utter negativity, renders a few signs of hope, too.
All Murder is a Family Affair
The Pope begins by alerting us that all murder is a family affair. Every murder flows from and resonates with that first homicide wherein Cain killed his brother, Abel. All of us share a common humanity and within this framework many of us participate in the one faith of Christ. Faith and blood unite us. Every murder is the destruction of our own flesh. Besides the spiritual kinship that is assaulted, even when innocent persons unknown to us have their lives taken, abortion and euthanasia bring this violation into our own homes. The successor of Peter draws our attention to the twofold commandment of Christ: love of God and love of neighbor. They are inseparably connected. Our love for one another flows from and is dependent upon our love for God. Consequently, it should not surprise us that those who revolt against God are also at odds with their brothers and sisters in the family of man. Selfishness is not discriminating. Just as Cain tries to cover up his crime with a lie, many in our day refuse to be honest about their relationship with God and about their attacks against the life and dignity of others. The pornographer does not care about the moral worth of his model; the pimp does not worry about the spiritual welfare of his prostitute; the abortionist does not prize the gift of the child he destroys, and in his greed, cares not for the mother, but for her purse. Will these people be able to look God straight in the face when they cross over the threshold of death? Will God embrace them, calling them good and faithful servants? Hardly, hatred and neglect of God always leads to a similar disregard for one's fellow men and women.
God orders Cain to wander a hard barren land-- the cost of his sin: we are told that murderous violence desensitizes man's environment to such crimes. This happenstance alienates our world from God. All life belongs to God. God spared Cain's life. Showing his distaste for capital punishment, the Holy Father notes that even God preferred correction to the death of the sinner. He would have us act likewise. God's question of Cain becomes ours. "What have you done?" It might be turned around as well, "What have you failed to do?" We must acknowledge our complicity in the attacks against life. Because of poor priorities or erroneous opinions, even in the family is no longer a safe haven, the "sanctuary of life." The news around the world might be full of stories of murder, war, slaughter, and genocide-- but we have plenty here at home with which to deal as well. And, I do not mean just the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, for as tragic as it was, it pales in comparison to the 4000 plus abortions in this nation every day, one-and-a-half million a year. We ignore it. We refuse to march for life or say we are too busy. We leave it to someone else to write to our senators and congressmen and -women. We vote for candidates who say they hate abortion but who promise that they will do everything in their power to insure that the killing of unborn babies will not be stopped. And, some of us have been directly party to these unspeakable crimes. As with Cain, only the grace and mercy of God, granted to a repentant heart, can allow us to live with our fault. On top of this, many of us forget to pray about such matters or for the little murdered souls.
We live in a climate of relativism and a culture of death. Innocuous medical terms are used to hide the truth, indeed, we strip truth of any objective meaning. We give our selfishness free reign behind a veil of moral uncertainty and a structure of sin. Live and let live-- no, it is more like live and let die. We categorize the unborn as an unjust aggressor and the aged as an embarrassment best removed from the picture, maybe better off dead. In this conspiracy against life, when did children, the elderly, and the handicapped, become the enemy? What did they do to deserve such treatment? Only one thing-- the only thing that our society will not forgive-- they exist. That is how twisted things have become-- we have re-imaged life as a crime. The unborn child is no longer a gift from God, but an unfortunate accident. The elderly are not deserving of our respect, but are hopelessly backward and senile. Stereotypes numb our consciences. Can we not see that something is terribly wrong in all this?
I am almost afraid to track what the Holy Father has to say in this portion of his encyclical. The faithful 28% who still go to church, the remnant of our faith in this land, even many of them probably feel uncomfortable when the topic of contraception is breached. The Pope views it as the handmaid to abortion. Trembling in my boots, but unwilling to sacrifice the truth, let me quote the courageous words of the Holy Father: "But the negative values inherent in the 'contraceptive mentality' -- which is very different from responsible parenthood lived in respect for the full truth of the conjugal act -- are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation [of abortion] when an unwanted life is conceived. Indeed, the pro-abortion culture is especially strong precisely where the church's teaching on contraception is rejected. Certainly, from the moral point of view contraception and abortion are specifically different evils: The former contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love, while the latter destroys the life of a human being; the former is opposed to the virtue of chastity in marriage, the latter is opposed to the virtue of justice and directly violates the divine commandment 'you shall not kill.' . . . Still, in very many other instances such practices are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment" (#13). It is important for many of our families to think about this and to remember that the sacrament of penance can remit the blame for this serious sin.
In rapid succession, the Holy Father mentions the many other threats to life: artificial reproduction (in which spare embryos are discarded), eugenic reproduction and infanticide (especially retarded babies are deemed unworthy of continued existence), and euthanasia or mercy killing (start worrying, Kevorkian might be coming after YOU next). We saw with the Cairo and Beijing Conferences that affluent nations are all too willing to attach anti-birth policies to any economic help they might offer developing nations. As cohorts with the World Bank, our country and the Clinton administration was behind much of this. Over twenty members of the U.S. delegation to Cairo were members of Planned Parenthood. Our tax dollars paid their way. Placing all his hopes in the next generation, Pope John Paul II warned the young people in Denver against the many false prophets of our age. The 20th century will go down as the era of the holocaust-- we have seen massive attacks on life, an almost endless series of wars, and the perpetual taking of innocent human lives. Oddly enough, we hear a great deal about rights these days. Almost all of it is empty rhetoric. If the weakest in our society are not safe, none of us are safe. The dignity of the human being and that person's right to life must not be made contingent upon his ability to produce or to verbally communicate. We are not simply factors in production. We have value even if we cannot express ourselves clearly to those around us. The last instance is notable. The unborn child has no voice. He is silenced before he can cry out. Similarly, the seriously ill in a hospital may likewise be unable to interact except on the level of a silent language of sharing affection. That is sufficient, despite the bombardment of lies to the contrary. We must practice what we preach! We must be their voice in this over-politicized world of ours.
The Holy Father fears that by failing to be our brother's keeper, we are distorting democracy and moving toward a new totalitarianism. As one who lived under Polish Communism, he should know. Our freedom possesses a relational dimension; absolute autonomy would cast everyone as our competitor, our enemy. The democratic ideal survives only if the inalienable right to life is protected for all. To take this right away from a segment of the population, as we have done, is to negate true freedom. St. John writes: "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34).
Without God, humanity is emptied of all value. Without God, we will either abuse nature or divinize it to our detriment. Without God, individualism, utilitarianism, and hedonism can flourish unchecked. With the eclipse of God, we are all reduced to a crass materialism. This is the state of affairs. Bearing one's cross becomes the new secular sin in this context since our pro-death culture sees no value at all in suffering. The passion of Jesus becomes the cosmic joke. We live as if there is no God at all. As individuals, we, become all that matters, and we only work with others for what we can get out of it. We sacrifice the weak and the helpless for what we consider to be more important needs. We use people and they only matter while their utility can be exploited. The body and its pleasures are to be appeased at every opportunity. Sex becomes the great recreation. Pregnancy becomes synonymous with illness, fought against first with drugs and obstructions and later dealt with as an unwanted cancer, surgically extracted.
In all this, and it is no less than monstrous, there is a glimmer of hope. The moral conscience has been confused, but all the conditioning and efforts to enforce silence cannot totally stifle the voice of the Lord whispering the truth in every conscience. As Christians, we believe that the blood of Christ will win the victory for life. We observe many signs of hope. There are still couples, who live faith-filled and selfless lives, raising godly families. There are still pro-life doctors scattered about who seek medical advancements on the side of raising the quality of life. Pro-life centers are ever growing and natural family planning programs, like the one operated by Mercedes Wilson, are bearing good fruit. Pro-life lobbying continues and we have reaffirmed non-violent protest. Despite the rule of greed and selfishness, our Church is one of the largest providers of charity in the world. Voices cry out for world peace, to find alternatives to capital punishment, to be good stewards of the earth. It is my fervent hope that our reflection at the end of this millennium will find us all unconditionally committed to the Gospel of Life as we enter the next. Why does the Church poke her nose into such matters? It is because life is a constitutive element of the Gospel-- the Good News of Christ is on the side of life! That is why one who opposes life, despite statements to the contrary, is working against Christ's kingdom and is presenting an anti-gospel. "See, I have set before you this day life and death, good and evil . . . . Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live" (Dt. 30:15, 19).
All Murder is a Family Affair
The Pope begins by alerting us that all murder is a family affair. Every murder flows from and resonates with that first homicide wherein Cain killed his brother, Abel. All of us share a common humanity and within this framework many of us participate in the one faith of Christ. Faith and blood unite us. Every murder is the destruction of our own flesh. Besides the spiritual kinship that is assaulted, even when innocent persons unknown to us have their lives taken, abortion and euthanasia bring this violation into our own homes. The successor of Peter draws our attention to the twofold commandment of Christ: love of God and love of neighbor. They are inseparably connected. Our love for one another flows from and is dependent upon our love for God. Consequently, it should not surprise us that those who revolt against God are also at odds with their brothers and sisters in the family of man. Selfishness is not discriminating. Just as Cain tries to cover up his crime with a lie, many in our day refuse to be honest about their relationship with God and about their attacks against the life and dignity of others. The pornographer does not care about the moral worth of his model; the pimp does not worry about the spiritual welfare of his prostitute; the abortionist does not prize the gift of the child he destroys, and in his greed, cares not for the mother, but for her purse. Will these people be able to look God straight in the face when they cross over the threshold of death? Will God embrace them, calling them good and faithful servants? Hardly, hatred and neglect of God always leads to a similar disregard for one's fellow men and women.
God orders Cain to wander a hard barren land-- the cost of his sin: we are told that murderous violence desensitizes man's environment to such crimes. This happenstance alienates our world from God. All life belongs to God. God spared Cain's life. Showing his distaste for capital punishment, the Holy Father notes that even God preferred correction to the death of the sinner. He would have us act likewise. God's question of Cain becomes ours. "What have you done?" It might be turned around as well, "What have you failed to do?" We must acknowledge our complicity in the attacks against life. Because of poor priorities or erroneous opinions, even in the family is no longer a safe haven, the "sanctuary of life." The news around the world might be full of stories of murder, war, slaughter, and genocide-- but we have plenty here at home with which to deal as well. And, I do not mean just the terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, for as tragic as it was, it pales in comparison to the 4000 plus abortions in this nation every day, one-and-a-half million a year. We ignore it. We refuse to march for life or say we are too busy. We leave it to someone else to write to our senators and congressmen and -women. We vote for candidates who say they hate abortion but who promise that they will do everything in their power to insure that the killing of unborn babies will not be stopped. And, some of us have been directly party to these unspeakable crimes. As with Cain, only the grace and mercy of God, granted to a repentant heart, can allow us to live with our fault. On top of this, many of us forget to pray about such matters or for the little murdered souls.
We live in a climate of relativism and a culture of death. Innocuous medical terms are used to hide the truth, indeed, we strip truth of any objective meaning. We give our selfishness free reign behind a veil of moral uncertainty and a structure of sin. Live and let live-- no, it is more like live and let die. We categorize the unborn as an unjust aggressor and the aged as an embarrassment best removed from the picture, maybe better off dead. In this conspiracy against life, when did children, the elderly, and the handicapped, become the enemy? What did they do to deserve such treatment? Only one thing-- the only thing that our society will not forgive-- they exist. That is how twisted things have become-- we have re-imaged life as a crime. The unborn child is no longer a gift from God, but an unfortunate accident. The elderly are not deserving of our respect, but are hopelessly backward and senile. Stereotypes numb our consciences. Can we not see that something is terribly wrong in all this?
I am almost afraid to track what the Holy Father has to say in this portion of his encyclical. The faithful 28% who still go to church, the remnant of our faith in this land, even many of them probably feel uncomfortable when the topic of contraception is breached. The Pope views it as the handmaid to abortion. Trembling in my boots, but unwilling to sacrifice the truth, let me quote the courageous words of the Holy Father: "But the negative values inherent in the 'contraceptive mentality' -- which is very different from responsible parenthood lived in respect for the full truth of the conjugal act -- are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation [of abortion] when an unwanted life is conceived. Indeed, the pro-abortion culture is especially strong precisely where the church's teaching on contraception is rejected. Certainly, from the moral point of view contraception and abortion are specifically different evils: The former contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love, while the latter destroys the life of a human being; the former is opposed to the virtue of chastity in marriage, the latter is opposed to the virtue of justice and directly violates the divine commandment 'you shall not kill.' . . . Still, in very many other instances such practices are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment" (#13). It is important for many of our families to think about this and to remember that the sacrament of penance can remit the blame for this serious sin.
In rapid succession, the Holy Father mentions the many other threats to life: artificial reproduction (in which spare embryos are discarded), eugenic reproduction and infanticide (especially retarded babies are deemed unworthy of continued existence), and euthanasia or mercy killing (start worrying, Kevorkian might be coming after YOU next). We saw with the Cairo and Beijing Conferences that affluent nations are all too willing to attach anti-birth policies to any economic help they might offer developing nations. As cohorts with the World Bank, our country and the Clinton administration was behind much of this. Over twenty members of the U.S. delegation to Cairo were members of Planned Parenthood. Our tax dollars paid their way. Placing all his hopes in the next generation, Pope John Paul II warned the young people in Denver against the many false prophets of our age. The 20th century will go down as the era of the holocaust-- we have seen massive attacks on life, an almost endless series of wars, and the perpetual taking of innocent human lives. Oddly enough, we hear a great deal about rights these days. Almost all of it is empty rhetoric. If the weakest in our society are not safe, none of us are safe. The dignity of the human being and that person's right to life must not be made contingent upon his ability to produce or to verbally communicate. We are not simply factors in production. We have value even if we cannot express ourselves clearly to those around us. The last instance is notable. The unborn child has no voice. He is silenced before he can cry out. Similarly, the seriously ill in a hospital may likewise be unable to interact except on the level of a silent language of sharing affection. That is sufficient, despite the bombardment of lies to the contrary. We must practice what we preach! We must be their voice in this over-politicized world of ours.
The Holy Father fears that by failing to be our brother's keeper, we are distorting democracy and moving toward a new totalitarianism. As one who lived under Polish Communism, he should know. Our freedom possesses a relational dimension; absolute autonomy would cast everyone as our competitor, our enemy. The democratic ideal survives only if the inalienable right to life is protected for all. To take this right away from a segment of the population, as we have done, is to negate true freedom. St. John writes: "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34).
Without God, humanity is emptied of all value. Without God, we will either abuse nature or divinize it to our detriment. Without God, individualism, utilitarianism, and hedonism can flourish unchecked. With the eclipse of God, we are all reduced to a crass materialism. This is the state of affairs. Bearing one's cross becomes the new secular sin in this context since our pro-death culture sees no value at all in suffering. The passion of Jesus becomes the cosmic joke. We live as if there is no God at all. As individuals, we, become all that matters, and we only work with others for what we can get out of it. We sacrifice the weak and the helpless for what we consider to be more important needs. We use people and they only matter while their utility can be exploited. The body and its pleasures are to be appeased at every opportunity. Sex becomes the great recreation. Pregnancy becomes synonymous with illness, fought against first with drugs and obstructions and later dealt with as an unwanted cancer, surgically extracted.
In all this, and it is no less than monstrous, there is a glimmer of hope. The moral conscience has been confused, but all the conditioning and efforts to enforce silence cannot totally stifle the voice of the Lord whispering the truth in every conscience. As Christians, we believe that the blood of Christ will win the victory for life. We observe many signs of hope. There are still couples, who live faith-filled and selfless lives, raising godly families. There are still pro-life doctors scattered about who seek medical advancements on the side of raising the quality of life. Pro-life centers are ever growing and natural family planning programs, like the one operated by Mercedes Wilson, are bearing good fruit. Pro-life lobbying continues and we have reaffirmed non-violent protest. Despite the rule of greed and selfishness, our Church is one of the largest providers of charity in the world. Voices cry out for world peace, to find alternatives to capital punishment, to be good stewards of the earth. It is my fervent hope that our reflection at the end of this millennium will find us all unconditionally committed to the Gospel of Life as we enter the next. Why does the Church poke her nose into such matters? It is because life is a constitutive element of the Gospel-- the Good News of Christ is on the side of life! That is why one who opposes life, despite statements to the contrary, is working against Christ's kingdom and is presenting an anti-gospel. "See, I have set before you this day life and death, good and evil . . . . Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live" (Dt. 30:15, 19).
posted by Father Joe Jenkins at 6:45 PM
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