I just want to leave 2011 with a very important question to reflect upon in 2012 - and perhaps even beyond time - and that is about the Sanctity of Human Life.
In our world which is constantly going against the will of God, we have to of course acknowledge people who would deny what we stand for. But for us who believe, this article is a simple sharing which I do hope to offer as a way to strengthen ourselves against the attacks of those who are trying to disregard, deny and destroy the sanctity of life.
Is human life sacred? Corollary to this, we have two more questions which are: Do we still believe in the sanctity of human life? Or do we really have to believe in the sanctity of human life?
Genesis 1:27 states that "God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them" which is further reiterated in Genesis 2:7, which says that "Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being" [NJB]. God infused into the human being the breath of life, His own Spirit, hence I Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 rightly speaks about the human body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.
These passages clearly states that human life is sacred indeed because it came from God Himself. God the Holy Spirit dwells in the human body through grace, that divine life in us which He has infused into man on the moment of man's creation - though lost through the sin of Eve and Adam - and yet was regained by our Lord Jesus Christ for us by His passion, death and resurrection [see Romans 5: 12-17].
Unfortunately the sanctity of life cannot be experimented upon and I wish to spare those who would wish to debate on this matter the effort of going through lengths of arguing against my stand on the sanctity of life.
Since we have now shown that human life is sacred the proper question to ask now is whether we still believe in such a revelation or not. For a Christian the answer should be an automatic "Yes". Unfortunately many Christians today seem to be more inclined to be more scientific than religious or moral. Hence the next question would be, "Do we have to believe in the sanctity of life?"
The denial of the sanctity of human life is tantamount to the denial of God. In his issuance of Humane Vitae, Pope Paul VI affirmed the longstanding teachings of the Church - since the time of the early Church - against abortion, sterilization and contraception as intrinsically evil hence they are also against God. Support to and promotion of these are therefore tantamount to going against God Himself since these things are a declaration against life and therefore against God.
Therefore it is but a natural consequence of our faith in God to also believe in everything that is related to such belief which for Catholics might start with "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth ..." The denial of one article of faith or anything that is revealed or taught by the Church, through the Magisterium, as the one vested by Jesus Christ our Lord the authority to bind and unbind [Matthew 18:18] and upon which He has sent His holy Spirit [John 14:26] is a heresy, a sin against the unity of Holy Mother Church which the Lord prayed for to be one [John 17:21] under one shepherd [John 10:16].
The sanctity of life has been revealed by God and has been taught and defended by the Church since the early Church. Even Moses, who lived many years before us, had this to tell the Chosen People of God, the Israelites, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them" [Deuteronomy 30:19-20].
We have life and blessings on one hand and death and curse on the other. If we disregard, deny and destroy life, blessings shall go pffft along with it and the curse shall be upon us and we shall taste death - not just physical death but eternal death.
Life is sacred and we must believe in its sanctity and fight for its continuity. Unless we acknowledge that life is sacred, many arguments against it would come up and we shall be lost amid many debates which may only end up in compromises with our opponents. We have to hold on to the fundamental truth of the sanctity of life. One might say it is an overly simplistic view of the issues constantly raging in the world today. But why blur the discussions with so many technicalities which both sides would endlessly offer and forget the most significant issue at hand: the sanctity of life.
God bless us all and may we have a Grace-filled New Year!
