Next weekend our Holy Father invites us to orient our prayers towards the lives of the aged, the sick, the dying, the unborn, the physically and mentally challenged, and the lives of all those who suffer. He especially invites us in doing so to reflect upon Blessed John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae, the Gospel of Life, which places its concern with the lives of all of these people. In our modern world we can see a loss towards the respect of the value of life which is seen through abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and all sins which are allowed to take hold within society. In this slow erosion of values we lose respect for children especially the unborn, we begin to see no value to suffering because all is about the present moment, we fail to see the human created in the image and likeness of God, and over time begin to find ourselves acting contrary to the Gospel of Life. In the week ahead Pope Francis challenges us to discover the importance of the Gospel of Life so that we can be concerned for all people.
Our Gospel opens us up to the mystery concerning life. In it we encounter this man who was stricken by death, but through the life giving touch of Christ had his humanity restored. We encounter those who carried his lifeless body and stand with awe with them as they encounter this life giving miracle of Christ. We also join with the woman who felt great pain with the loss of her only son and join with her joy at the reality that his life was restored. The Church Fathers attributed a lot of status to this woman because she was seen as the Church. In her tears are found the concern that the Church must have for all of the life of the faithful. The Church must remain concerned with those who find themselves in the state of sin and bring us to Christ to find mercy. The Church must also remain concerned for the well being of all of humanity, so that life can be protected and defended. We cannot silence the Church's voice from within society because she always walks along with us in our needs known and unknown and looks out for them.
Before his call to conversion Saint Paul was a great persecutor of the Church, but through his encounter with the risen Christ he found true meaning for his life. Despite the sins of his past he was given hope to turn away from his errors and follow constantly after the Gospel. This gospel that came to him was not of human origin, but came as a revelation from Christ. It was through this revelation that he was given his mission to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout the earth. This is the same mission that all of us must constantly be reminded of. This is especially reminded throughout the words of Evangelium Vitae. If we are to proclaim Christ from the midst of the world we will be proclaiming the message of life itself. We will be showing to the world that new life can bestowed upon us and that we all have the ability to leave the oldness of sin that brings death to our souls behind. As Christians we must be willing accept this within our lives and to fear not in our mission to proclaim and defend life always.
Elijah ,as a prophet of God, saw the great need that this woman had for her son to be saved. Elijah did not give up hope, but instead entered into the upper room to enter into a spirit of prayer. For us to discover the Gospel of Life we to must enter into a spirit of prayer allowing ourselves to open wide to a contemplative outlook towards life. In this outlook we can begin to see life as the gift that it truly is because all of creation is a reflection of God. With this understanding we can begin to truly revere and honor every person. God as the creator and bestower of all life constantly calls us to be alive with our joy of celebrating within eternal life. We enter into this great joy each time that we share in the Sacraments of the Church because they bring us into communion with God the giver of all life. Through prayer and the Sacraments we should enter and more each day into this reality and should allow our hearts to enter into this participation to grow in our awe and wonder at the gift of life.
Through our participation in the glory of life that comes from God we are all called to respect human life and dignity. We can answer this call to accept the Gospel of Life by allowing its message to enter into our own families. The family is able to answer this call through prayer and the raising of children within the faith. As a family the concept of the gift of self can be shown and lived out displaying the reality that we do not exist to chase after our own pleasures. Within the family the faith can be fostered and all can begin to see the true meaning of suffering and death. In the family can prayer be fostered where we are thankful for the gift of life, glorify God, and in the midst of pain and suffering be given the strength to endure with hope. The family is the "sanctuary of life" and within this world it must be fostered and protected within our own homes. The woman of our Gospel was concerned for her own family and desired that it would have life bestowed upon it.
This day may each of us desire to join with this woman's hope for life. May we foster the Gospel of life within our own homes and allow the life that is found there to spread out into the world. It is our mission as Christians to always be concerned with the Gospel of Life and we must be willing to share this Gospel with the world. We must be willing to see that all life is sacred no matter how young or old. Let us not become overburdened at those moments when we must face the reality of suffering, but instead orient ourselves with hope towards Christ who is always willing to restore us to life. For us to be pro-life is to contribute to the "renewal of society" because we are concerned with the common good where the dignity of the human person is always respected and defended. In our celebration of life may we always give praise to the Lord who has rescued us from death and brought us to new life.
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