This editorial appears in the November 21 print edition, due to reach subscribers this week.
Advent calls to mind the centuries of expectation for the Messiah, but also focuses on the expectant Blessed Virgin Mary.
In its observance of the days leading up to Christmas, the Church implicitly recognizes that an unborn child is a human being, a person with the same dignity as anyone who has already been born. Christ once was an embryo, a fetus, an unborn child. He who died on the cross to save mankind is the same person who was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
As Christ is in our midst from the moment of the Annunciation, a woman who is pregnant for the first time is already a mother.
As if to drive that message home, Pope Benedict XVI has asked all the bishops of the world to join him as he celebrates a “Vigil for all nascent human life” on Nov. 27, the evening before the First Sunday of Advent.
It’s the first of its kind, and the symbolism could hardly be more meaningful, the need hardly more significant.
Pope Benedict will lead the main celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. The vigil will include Eucharistic adoration to “thank the Lord for his total self-giving to the world and for his incarnation which gave every human life its real worth and dignity.” That’s according to a letter from Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Say the cardinals: “We are all aware of the dangers that today threaten human life, as these are promoted by relativistic and utilitarian culture which disables human sensitivity and often renders it powerless to acknowledge the inherent and equal dignity that human life possesses, regardless of its stage or condition. We are therefore called to be more than ever ‘the people of life’ (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 79) both with our prayer and in our commitments. At this extraordinary vigil, celebrated by the Supreme Pastor of the Church and all particular churches, we shall thus be invoking the Lord to bestow his grace and light for the conversion of hearts and, at the same time, we shall be offering to the entire world an outstanding ecclesial witness of the Church’s culture of life and love.”
In an accompanying set of guidelines for celebration of the vigil, an outline for a possible homily notes that the mystery Christians celebrate at Christmas is “God’s full approval, his great Yes, to human life.”
The vigil will be celebrated worldwide, and, of course, each culture will receive it in its own way. In America, it comes just after Thanksgiving Day, during a month when Election Day fades into memory and commerce-driven expectations for “the holidays” rise sharply.
This year’s midterm elections gave Catholic Americans some reasons to be grateful. The House of Representatives has more pro-life members than ever, and that gives us some reasons for hope. We can hope not only that votes on life issues go somewhat better, but also that a growing pro-life caucus in Congress gives the pro-life movement more credibility in Washington.
But we know from experience that it’s unwise to put one’s hope totally in politics and politicians. Candidates who ran on messages of change, promising to not be like career politicians, often end up being … career politicians. Freshman congressmen with ideals of doing what’s best for America and not being beholden to special interests often run up against the reality of having to compromise principles.
And so, it is not simply through politics that we’ll win the battle for life. The vigil for nascent life reminds us that it is through conversion, as the cardinals noted in their letter.
The vigil is a challenge to us, particularly American Catholics, to observe Advent differently this year. Instead of letting ourselves be caught up in the consumerist spirit of holiday shopping, we can try, rather, to give of ourselves in whatever situations present themselves — in imitation of him who gave himself in the Incarnation and on the cross.
Someone needs five minutes of your time, and you are scurrying to get a project done? Sacrifice the five minutes, and you give that person a gift that has no price.
Know of someone who will be alone on Christmas — even someone whose company is less than desirable? Set a place for him or her at your table.
Looking forward to sleeping in on a free Saturday morning? Find out if there’s a pro-life group that stands outside an abortion business praying the Rosary and offering help to desperate mothers who feel their only choice is to “terminate.” Or search out a soup kitchen that needs a hand.
Notice that a friend or relative is veering from the truth? Let your love for that person guide your prayerful guidance of his conscience.
As the materials for local celebrations of the Pope’s vigil suggest, “the celebration of the gospel of life ought to be carried out in one’s own daily life through a spirit of charity towards everyone, by our own self-giving (Evangelium Vitae, 87-91). Core to this task is the promotion of a culture of life, where ‘the people of life,’ with their vast and diverse associations and institutions, are called to fulfill a unique and irreplaceable service for life within society.”
It’s most appropriate, then, that the Pope will include in the vigil this prayer written by his predecessor, John Paul II (at the end of Evangelium Vitae). Let us make the prayer our own as we enter this season of great expectancy:
O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life: Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.
Edward Pentin: Pope Benedict XVI's Visit to Lebanon - Full Texts
Comments
Post a Comment
I’ve asked priests in two dioceses if they’ve heard anything about this from their chanceries & they’ve said that this is the first they’ve heard of it. Makes me so sad that the people who are SUPPOSED to be listening to the Holy Father & implementing what he asks, aren’t.
This is wonderful. We have a pro-active pope, led by the Holy Spirit.
May God bring great fruit from this vigil.
Beautiful!
I urgently ask for your prayers as my daughter-in-law has applied to PATH, a company that promotes abortion with Planned Parenthood and the Guttmacher Inst. She will have her 2nd interview tomorrow and would accept the postion if offered. Pray that Brian and Sonia will not open wide the doors of hell to their family.
Thank you
Now, if we could just get him to care that much about born children.
Just keep beating the anti abortion, anti gay drum, and chalk it up to God’s will. What a bunch of self serving, smug, hypocrites!
Our diocese (Indianapolis) is having a vigil, and my parish is offering intentions during first Friday Adoration. I feel so proud of our Pope!
Praise God! It IS happening: mankind’s new chance is freshly evolving, led by God-selected Benedict XVI to help us in this uniquely dangerous but still hopeful Age. We face such complexity that we dare not do as our Constitution-designers did, witness Benjamin Franklin’s failed motion to the 1787 Convention.
Referring to American feelings and fears of twelve years earlier, 1776, the time of the Declaration of Independence, Franklin reminded those at the Philadelphia 1787 Convention of how Americans felt about God and their need for Him in 1776. However, the last great battle (Yorktown, 1781) was successfully behind Americans in 1787 and so most Convention-attendees felt pretty confident *in themselves*.
I include the following Franklin quote, and more, in my article on Election Day, Nov. 2, when the good-news of pro-life results was not yet clear:
http://www.york912patriots.com/running-intelligently-in-the-homestretch-to-win-big-in-nov-–-part-2-2/
Franklin: “All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a **Superintending providence in our favor. . And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance**.” [emphasis added]
Some responded to Franklin’s motion with unease about what the public might misconstrue. In the end, they shunned the invitation to witness to their need for God’s assistance. Rather than vote on Franklin’s motion they dodged the opportunity by adjourning!
Upon reconvening, they never changed to acceptance of the invitation. Let us not act like them but instead follow the Holy Father! We are too numerous to be stopped unless we are in fact lukewarm.
Had the designers of our Constitution chosen to pray together as Franklin proposed, to thus praise God and to acknowledge our need for His assistance, God could have helped them to create a better design of that most problematic Third Branch we now have so much trouble with, the United States Supreme Court.
See the two-minute video-clip inside the above article and ponder Justice Elena Kagan’s ominous responses to Sen. Coburn.
*This time around*, let American Bishops HELP us at the individual-parish level by strongly urging their parish priests to teach Catholic citizens about “Intelligent God-Talk” explained in above article as means to societal success. The IRS can do NOTHING about that because it is both an intellectual and faith-based matter we as American citizens have the right to use to persuade others, including candidates, to ponder and support.
It is we citizens who must urge those suitable God-believing candidates to actually do “Intelligent God-talk” (“IGT”) *during their campaigns* – starting in this next election-cycle. It is noted in the article how crucial it is to start early so that the country and candidates become familiar with “IGT”.
We must not let President Obama (or anyone like him) get another chance to appoint more Kagans! Therefore, thank God for Benedict XVI leading us in this *historic* way. Let each of us make the most of it!
That this pope’s message is prompted by God is evidenced via Benedict XVI including all pro-life believers, not just Catholics. Praise God: Jesus’ prayer for Unity could come a lot closer to fruition in the not so distant future. When enough of society walks toward Jesus, He will run to help society overcome its obstacles
Sandra, the Catholic Church is the world’s largest charitable organization- and that’s for living people!
Also, Sandra, remember, one has to be born FIRST to receive charity.
Our pastor said that this was only a suggestion by the Pope, and we already had Respect Life month in October.
Dear Margaret,
Glad you asked your pastor; God usually only invites us to action. That is why I wrote “mankind’s *new chance* is *freshly evolving*”. It’s up to us. Since you are anonymous, I will truly appreciate your unfettered critique in this forum of any points you choose below:
In this critical year of new hope and timely papal leadership let us be sure to emphasize this *vital clue* from the Holy Spirit given to us in the Gospel of Life—Evangelium Vitae, EV9:
“Indeed “the blood is the life” (Dt 12:23), and life, especially human life, belongs only to God: **for this reason whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself.**”
So, whoever chooses to abort or to coerce another to abort engages in a simultaneous attack against both baby and God himself! This thought provoking truth has *not* yet been driven home to the laity by our bishops and priests. We need that sad status to be changed so that the Combination, that is, the “SUM” = “Respect Life” *PLUS* “Respect God”, is taught and preached.
May this needed *vital change* which is prompted by the above *vital clue* in EV9 begin during THIS Advent and then be thoroughly incorporated in a renewed pro-life strategy, going forward into 2011 and then on to crucial 2012!
Meanwhile, pressures from unwanted pregnancies will continue to make it relatively easy for typical people to hide behind rationalizations such as ‘the early embryo is not a person’. Such rationalization will happen for as long as there is no clear *preaching* to those same people about their nevertheless attacking God himself.
Mankind may never be privileged to know the “ensoulment moment”; however, the point is that we have no need and no inherent right to know. Procured abortion is evil because it is an attack on God’s dominion which includes God’s new children.
In the absence of preaching the above SUM, the use of Morning After Pills will easily increase, to cite but one form of sin that CAN be reduced by full teaching and preaching. That hope is based on the *additional spiritual motivators* via the SUM.
Hopefully, Benedict XVI will encourage the teaching and preaching of the Combination—“Respect Life” *PLUS* “Respect God”—for EV9 also highlights an important symmetry strongly indicating that the SUM is a proper choice: with both baby and God being acknowledged as under *simultaneous* attack by the aborting mother or couple, the appropriate response remains symmetrical: we simply MUST RESPECT *both* creature AND Creator!
Another source of high value of the Combination is that the two halves are *complementary* in terms of how each can provide *alternate motivators* for helping individuals confront a severe temptation to abort. Having “alternatives” is helpful.
For example, since it is not sinful or abnormal simply to doubt personhood for *early* embryos (Life), that typical human tendency *facilitates* rationalizing an abortion. However, with inculcation of the “Respect God” half along with “Respect Life”, one is caused to also focus on the *higher motivator*, that is, to remain keenly aware that the doubted early embryo IS nevertheless *God’s own Personal Treasure* at EVERY stage within the mother.
Another distinct help from inclusion of “Respect God” is its emphasis on our developing a proper “personal relationship” with God, something that is rather indirect to emphasize if one preaches only the “Respect Life” half. The Combination – RL + RG – can more than double pro-life effectiveness because of *complementarity* and resulting *synergism* with use of the pair.
Indeed, on his visit here in April 2008, Benedict XVI reminded his brother bishops thus:
“The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching, and the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with “Christ Jesus, our hope” (1 Tim 1:1).
Our Holy Father in 2008 was thorough in reminding our bishops [and us] to avoid becoming victims of “a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our *private relationship* with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community”:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080416_bishops-usa_en.html
Consider reading how Respect Life + Respect God can play out for real people who may suddenly be facing an unwanted pregnancy—and how grace can build on our personal nature to work for us in severe trials:
http://www.michnews.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/443/19939
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.