January 22, 1995 This twenty-second anniversary of Roe v. Wade provides an opportunity for all of us to renew our commitment to respect and preserve human life at every stage. On this day so close to our celebration of Christmas, we especially reaffirm our commitment to the unborn child. We do this in the light of a faith that confesses that the Son of God was himself an unborn infant in the womb of his mother. Reflecting on this marvelous reality allows us to grasp what is at stake in the pro-life struggle. We are coming to the end of a century that has witnessed many terrible attacks on human life. Warfare and genocide have accounted for the deaths of untold millions of human beings. What is so appalling about the widespread use of abortion in our time is that this act is an attack on life itself. The unborn infant is killed not because he or she is a free-thinking intellectual, or the member of some persecuted ethnic or racial minority, or a representative of a ruling class. Crimes against these people in our passing century are intolerable. But what is particularly terrible about abortion is that it is an attack on human life itself. The unborn infant is eliminated just because it exists and its existence is a burden. The practice of abortion, and its acceptance, has led to a coarsening of our entire culture's respect for life: to the increasing acceptance of assisted suicide for the elderly and ill; to experiments on living human embryos; to abuse of women, children and the elderly; and to irresponsible sexual license, the weakening of families, and the further victimization of the poor to whom society seems willing to give "abortion rights" in place of real justice. Our Father in heaven does not ask us to act alone in this commitment to respect vulnerable human life. He has made us members of the Body of Christ. From our sisters and brothers in Christ, we can draw the strength to act against a culture which glamorizes death and makes choice its ultimate god. Every member of the Body of Christ has a role to play, whether ministering to pregnant women, peacefully witnessing outside an abortion clinic, praying for the cause of life, speaking to friends or working within our democratic process to change laws. Each is blessed with a talent that can be brought to the cause. The old, the sick and the dying, even the unborn child plays a role, for each reminds us of our dependence as human beings upon the love of God and the good will of those on whom we depend for our very existence. Whether we speak alone or as part of the community of believers, we are called, with Jesus, to "bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives. . .to announce a year of favor from the Lord." Do not be discouraged that abortion is still legal twenty-two (22) years after Roe v. Wade. Our Lord is calling every one of us to do our part -- one woman, one man, one child, one family at a time -- to create a world generous to life, which truly is just, refreshing and life giving. John C. Favalora John J. Snyder Norbert M. Dorsey J. Keith Symons John M. Smith John J. Nevins Agustin A. Roman |