The Sacredness Of Life
by Rev. Brian Costa
One of the principal beliefs of the Catholic Church is that life, in all forms, is sacred. Life is the creation of God himself. It therefore becomes very apparent why the Catholic Church takes the positions it does on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment. I believe wholeheartedly that life is sacred and is to be enjoyed as well as cherished. In our society, however, this is not always possible. Taking the time to live life the way God wants us to is not always easy.
Modern society can be a violent environment, where life is put down every day for petty reasons such as money or drugs. As persons we can become numb to this. Even abortion, the systematic destruction of life due to bad judgment, is a right in our country .As students my own age in high school become more and more careless, abortions will be treated as just another trip to the doctor's office. Through abortion, our Federal Government has made it legal to destroy life that God has created.
With ethical problems in our society running rampant, you are probably wondering, "How can I help to preserve life?" We can maintain the sacredness of life! We can take a stand, perhaps by supporting government officials who are against capital punishment and abortion. We can affirm the sacredness of life by not turning a deaf ear to the problems of others, by making the most of the time we have with our families and friends. People who need people, are indeed the luckiest people in the world!
By honing our God-given talents and choosing professions that serve others, we can affirm the sacredness of all human life. It is not a matter of perfect grades or attending an Ivy League school. It is a matter of respect for life.
The first Pentecost can be very instructive about our own work as disciples of Jesus. When the fire of the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and Mary waiting in the Upper Room, their hearts were both shaken with a great sense of mission and rooted in a profound unity of faith and love for Jesus their Risen Lord. Their freedom and the totality of commitment gave such a direction to their lives that everything they did became part of their witnessing to the Lord Jesus as God's Good News for the whole world. The fire of the Holy Spirit not only propelled them forth with missionary zeal but also welded among them a human unity that no physical separation could shatter.
As Catholics, our shared mission of respecting and protecting life is a commitment to God and to one another. In all that we say and do, we are His witnesses.