Respect-Life Mass

Homily
By Bishop Salvatore R. Matano,
Coadjutor Bishop of Burlington

Saint Augustine Church, Montpelier
January 14, 2006

RESPECT FOR ALL LIFE

"The Lord offers the gift of children, seen as a blessing and a grace, a sign of life that continues and of the history of salvation extending to new stages…Begetting is thus a gift that brings life and well-being to society. We are aware of this in our days in the face of nations that are deprived, by the demographic loss, of the freshness and energy of a future embodied by children." These words were spoken by Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on August 31, 2005 at his General Audience. How very contrary to this message of life is that dreadful decision made on January 23, 1973 by the highest court of our land. Since that time, our nation has been scarred, wounded, divided and tormented by the loss of millions of innocent lives through abortion. It is now reported that the United States has the highest abortion rate in the western world, and the third highest of all developed nations worldwide. It is astounding that recent statistics indicate that there are 1.31 million induced abortions annually in this country, or 3,500 every day; we have reached the point where 24.5% of all pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. (Cf. Roe Reality Check, Secretariat for Pro-life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.).

In many places, we are now an aging population with fewer and fewer young people to care for our elderly. Thus, it is not very surprising that legislation to allow physician assisted suicide would become fashionable, politically correct, so that an arbitrary and subjective judgment could be made about one's quality of life, thereby allowing society, and not God, to decide when life begins and when it ends. How very sad that those who once cared for us now have become in the minds of some a burden too great to carry.

From conception until death, human lives are threatened. God's most precious gift is under attack from the very time life begins until it ends. Death is even used as a means to punish crime or as a deterrent to prevent crime. What a sad commentary upon a society that is so scientifically advanced and claims to be so socially conscious, and yet, remains in some circumstances so barbaric! Abortion, euthanasia, violence, war, abuses against people, the death penalty and a general degradation of the moral order are all a result of a deep lack of respect for the integral dignity and worth of the human person as God's noblest creation. Those who do oppose the destruction of life on any level hold that human life merits protection against any attack that threatens this life because human dignity is intrinsic. "It is a dignity that has to be attributed to the human being because of the kind of being that he or she is. Intrinsic dignity is not conferred or earned. It is a dignity that is simply recognized and is attributed to every human being regardless of any other considerations or claims. Intrinsic dignity is a dignity that can only be possessed in an absolute sense - one either has it completely or does not have it at all - since one is either a human being or not one at all. There is no such thing as partial human dignity since there is no such thing as a partial human being." (Cf. Report from the Committee on Science and Human Values, Dialogue on Stem Cell Research, September 2005, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).

A culture of death nurtured and encouraged by abortion, physician-assisted suicide, the manipulation of life at its embryonic stage, the diminishment of the importance of the family and the institution of marriage, the termination of life as a penalty for crime in a civilized society, the wanton disregard for the poor, these are all offenses against the Creator, against life, against the intrinsic value of the human person. In a society that assumes the right to determine when life begins and when it ends, a right that belongs solely and entirely to God, then the powerful dominate the weak, the godless become God, and the beginning and the end of life are left to determinations based upon relative convenience, narcissistic preference, selfish satisfaction or a misguided and incorrect understanding of true justice and the basic rights of every human person. Can any society ever survive which threatens life from its conception until natural death!

In an article entitled, "Winter's Miracles of Beauty," by a Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison (Cf. The Saturday Evening Post, November/December 2005), Dr. Jamison describes Vermont's Wilson Bentley's fascination with snowflakes. In this article there are selected quotes from Mr. Bentley. Among them is one that reads: "I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty. It seems a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated." "When a snowflake melted," he lamented, "that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind." In still another place, Bentley is recorded to have said: "Nature is full of genius, full of divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand." For Mr. Bentley snowflakes were "gems from God's own laboratory." Now if this can be said of snowflakes, one can only imagine the description that must be given to the human person, a description which defies human terminology because our words must attempt to capture the divine since every person is bound to the Creator and the work of His hand. Every person is a "miracle of beauty", "a masterpiece of design", a "gem" from God, but above all a child of God. How then can we ever accept the taking of human life at any stage of its development? If people err, then they must be corrected; if they sin, they should seek forgiveness; if they fall, they must be lifted up; if they wound another, they must repair the hurt; but never should they be destroyed. And for those who have not even had the chance to come into the world, why should they be destroyed?

For more than three decades now, people have been taught that the taking of human life is moral, acceptable and legal. What a terrible lesson to have taught our children over these years. One has to ask: Who bears the greater responsibility for this tragedy? Those who have suffered through the harsh ordeal of the termination of life or those who have taught others that the destruction of human life is not only acceptable, but also worked to make immoral procedures legal? We need to be empathetic and understanding to those whom we have failed to teach, to support in their time of need, to show them the face and the wisdom of God with a loving heart. Saint Thomas Aquinas said it well: "Nemo dat quod non habet." No one gives what he does not have." How can our young people have an appreciation for life if they have not been taught both by word and example that this life, our life, is a precious gift from God.

Yet, sometimes the greatest lessons of life come to us from children. A first grade student in a Catholic school in this country wrote: "If I didn't have any Mom, I would not be born. I would not have a school, no friends, no bat, no ball, no name, or Dad, no brother, no cousin, and no God and Jesus and Mary and Joseph. Thanks, Mom, for giving me life!" A sixth grade student from the same school writes: "I am very grateful to God for creating my mom. She has given me love, attention, understanding and a lot more. Without her I never would have been brought into this world. Without her I never would be able to see the ocean, feel the warm sunlight shine on my face. I couldn't hear the birds sing, smell the wonderful flowers of spring, or taste cold ice cream on a hot summer day!"

Indeed, more precious than the snowflake, more wondrous than any of the beauties of nature, more magnificent even than the rising and the setting of the sun, is the beauty of the human person. We have come here this day to proclaim this truth, to assure the dignity of every person and to protect every person's right to life! May God sustain us in this cause and grant to all people the wisdom to accept the fundamental truth that God is our Father, we are His sons and daughters, we belong to Him! God has placed us upon this earth and He alone can call us Home!

The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano
Bishop of Burlington

January 14th, 2006 - "Rally For Life" Day