Last Monday we observed the 45 ^th anniversary or Roe vs. Wade decision.  In the Encyclical, Evangelium vitae, highlighted the fact that present-day society has developed increasing sensitivity to human rights, but on the other, has not succeeded in applying them to the defense of the weakest.

There is a pressing need to rediscover the authentic anthropology that illuminates and enhances the human dignity of every person, and the sacred and fundamental gift of life. The way one conceives the "quality of life", concerning which we often discover rather reductive  interpretations, must take into account the transcendent dimension of the human person open to God, his origin and his goal. “Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity" (Gaudium et spes, n. 14); as the image of God, he cannot become an instrument nor be reduced to the value of his qualities.

We, today, are capable of deeply grasping the reality of life, which is not limited to our time on earth but is rooted in God and extends dynamically into eternity. Therefore this life cannot be limited to the earthly dimension, but is imbued with God's gift and marked by eternity. This is why it is essential to turn back to God. Only in Him will we be able to recover the meaning of man and thus of life. "Man's life comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life. God therefore is the sole Lord of this life: man cannot do with it as he wills" (Evangelium vitae, n. 39).

Today everyone must be committed supporters of life. "We need to promote a serious and in-depth exchange about basic issues of human life with everyone, including non-believers, in intellectual circles, in the various professional spheres and at the level of people's everyday life" (Evangelium vitae., n. 95).

The value and defense of life is a sign of our times on the threshold of the third millennium and therefore represents an urgent appeal to bear witness to life, it is a true sign of the credibility of the Gospel message of the Lord of Life. It is a sign that speaks to the hearts of all people in  order to open them to Christ, because "the Gospel of God's love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel" (Evangelium vitae, n. 2).

This commitment must pervade the social and cultural fabric, it must penetrate human ways of thinking, judging and acting, so that in the acceptance and protection of life, the beauty of self-giving to others may be rediscovered.

~Fr. Dan