![]() Sin ruptures our relationship with God, but it also ruptures our relationships with each other. While it is true that a sin is a personal act ( Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.1868), the consequences of sin are always both personal and social. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion (National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. So, abortion just leads to more abortion. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. ![]() And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. Teresa of Calcutta’s words and insight,īy abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. As the experience of the human race over the millennia has made abundantly clear, human nature is so wounded that without stringent, society-wide commitment to the highest possible ideals, unimaginable evils are possible. When society bases itself on any principle less noble and less unshakable than total respect for the dignity of the human person, it is merely a matter of time before grave evils arise. This is clearly enunciated by the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which states: “The origin of social life is therefore found in the human person, and society cannot refuse to recognize its active and responsible subject every expression of society must be directed towards the human person” (no. For this reason, the Catholic Church has always emphasized that the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This situation is enabled and emboldened by the progressive weakening in individual consciences in a society that has lost the sense of the incomparable worth of the human person.Įxperience shows that whenever a human person’s dignity is overlooked, devalued, or rejected, the consequences to society and culture are far-reaching. are examples of many social ills that have arisen as Western culture has rejected God and ignored the inalienable dignity of human life from conception to natural death. The violence of abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human trafficking, pornography, the exploitation and commercialization of preborn children (i.e., IVF, selling of baby-body parts, genetic engineering), etc. Upon examination, it becomes obvious that many of our “political” issues are really spiritual issues and require a spiritual solution. 12), rather than with the radical affirmation of the value of every human life that is the center of the Gospel of Life. John Paul II put it, the culture of death “is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency” ( Evangelium vitae, no. How desperately does our culture need the profound truths contained in this brief Gospel story!Ĭurrently, we face a prevailing violence, “a conspiracy against human life.” As Pope St. Mary, carrying Jesus – the source of life – visits Elizabeth, and this encounter becomes an occasion of joy, blessing, and the affirmation of life in its most vulnerable form!įor the pro-life movement, this story could not be more evocative and more affirming of our great mission to defend the most defenseless. In this encounter between Mary and Elizabeth the “Gospel of Life” is vividly on display. How remarkable that the first person (other than Mary and Joseph) to recognize the great gift Who was coming into the world is a preborn child! God the Son, the Word made flesh, desired that Mary His mother not only go to Elizabeth “in haste” to assist her in her pregnancy, but that she also go to her because the Son of God desired to sanctify John the Baptist within his mother’s womb. The baby leaps for joy, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:41-42). In hearing Mary’s greeting, something amazing and spiritual took place within the child in Elizabeth’s womb. The Visitation narrative begins with Mary responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and setting out “in haste” on a mission of charity to visit Elizabeth, upon hearing about her pregnancy (Luke 1:39). The story as recounted in the Gospel of Luke (1:39-56) is a unique narrative that centers around two expectant mothers, one carrying the Savior of the world, and the other, his forerunner, the final (and greatest) of the Old Testament prophets. This feast holds a significant place in the Christian liturgical calendar, commemorating the visit of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. In a few days (May 31) the Church will be celebrating the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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