When asked recently at what point human beings should be given human rights, U.S. Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama said that to answer that question with any specificity was “beyond his pay grade”. What those who did not watch the debate perhaps don’t know is that he followed with an almost 5-minute explanation – quite convincing, I must add – which began: “I am pro-choice, but that does not mean that I am pro-abortion”. Sadly, the reality is that if you are pro-choice, while you may not like the idea of abortions, you are pro-abortion: that’s exactly what it means. For Obama, who professes to be a Christian, this should not be taken lightly.
Did you know that in Canada there are over 110,000 abortions every year? In the United States, there are more than 1.3 million abortions yearly, which means that in both countries combined, there are 4 abortions every minute. That also means that since Roe v. Wade in 1973, there have been some 40 million abortions in the U.S alone! I am always blown away by those statistics. Apparently, what used to be “1 in 4 pregnancies in the U.S. end up in abortion”, is now 1 in 5. I guess that’s a good thing. 1 in 5…. Wow!
In case anyone is in doubt: All Christians should be Pro-Life. Let me re-phrase: If you are a Christian, you cannot be pro-abortion or pro-choice. You cannot be pro—euthanasia, pro-death penalty or pro-stem-cell research. In fact, you can’t be pro anything that is remotely related to the cult of death. The words “Christian” and “pro-death” don’t go together.
It is surprising to me that so many who call themselves Christian still don’t quite get it.
This past summer, I was involved with the Knights of Columbus on a project to highlight the Knights’ Pro-Life involvement. If anything is quintessentially Catholic, it is the Knights, the largest lay Catholic organization, which was founded on the principles of charity and unity. As such, it makes perfect sense that the Knights of Columbus, as an organization is Pro-Life. It makes sense that all Knights should be Pro-Life and Pro-Family.
National March for Life, Washington, 2007
And that is what A People of Life aims to show: Not just how “amazing the Knights are”, but what it means to be a people of life and a people for life. What being “Pro-Life” means. It’s not just being against abortion, and protesting outside abortion facilities. It’s a way of life – it’s, in many ways, what being truly Christian is all about.
Pope John Paul II in his 1995 Encyclical Evangelium Vitae wrote: “To all the … people of life and for life, I make this most urgent appeal, that together we may offer this world of ours new signs of hope, and work to ensure that justice and solidarity will increase and that a new culture of human life will be affirmed, for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love.”
A couple of years ago, I was blessed to be in Vancouver at a Eucharistic event with three Sisters of Life. During one of the talks, one of the Sisters talked about the pillars of the culture of life: Faith, Hope and Love. By definition, the pillars of the opposite: the cult of death, are the opposite of those. But what are they?
Faith is trust and complete reliance on God. Faith is not just “faith”, but Faith in God. So the opposite of that is not just “not having Faith in God”, but complete trust and reliance in ourselves. The opposite of Faith is faith in ourselves. Another name for that is Pride.
Identifying the opposite of Hope is a bit simpler: despair, hopelessness.
Many would quickly jump to conclude that the opposite of Love is hate. However, hate is a secondary, response. The true, deep opposite of Love is Fear. It is no surprise that one of the most common expressions in Scripture is “Be not afraid”.
And so, the pillars of the cult of death are: pride, despair and fear.
What does this all mean? It’s very simple: Everything we do, as people of life, needs to be motivated by Faith and/or Hope and/or Love. As soon as we find ourselves being motivated by despair or pride or fear, we’ve got a problem.
How many times do we make decisions based on pride? Or respond to a situation because of fear? How many are driven to certain behaviour because of despair?
The First National March for Life in Washington
It’s really not that hard. For me, it just took a small realization. And all of the sudden, all of the Church’s moral teachings made sense. We sin when we build the cult of death. We uplift, glorify and serve God when we build the Culture of Life.
This Sunday, September 7 at 9pm (with encore presentations on Monday, September 8th @ 1am & 2pm; Wednesday, September 10th @ 8pm and Thursday, September 11th @ 12am) you will have the opportunity to watch A People of Life.
A People of Life explores what it means to be Pro-Life and includes interviews with Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, March for Life Founder Nellie Gray, Project Rachel Founder Vicki Thorn, Democrat Member of U.S. Congress Bart Stupack, President of Life Athletes Chris Godfrey, and Superior of the Sisters of Life Mother Agnes, among others. It looks at the Pro-Life issues: abortion, euthanasia and stem-cell research in both the U.S. and Canada, and focuses on the work done by the Knights of Columbus in these areas.
May it be for you an opportunity to examine your life and what motivates your actions. More importantly, may it be an opportunity for you to celebrate LIFE and to rejoice in the long history that the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and many, many Christians; many, many holy and wise men and women, throughout the last 2000 years have had in the building of the Culture of Life.
For more on this, read my article: Why Am I ProLife?
And let me know your thoughts. Always love to read your comments.
PEDRO
Read Comments
Cardinal Bergoglio
Ok – This may come out sounding a bit complicated, so you’ll have to bear with me –maybe help me sort it out – I apologise for not sorting it out first before bringing you into it, but it is too big to contain. Think of Cat Steven’s song, “I can’t let it in… I gotta let it out…”
I was disappointed about half way during the Eucharistic Congress, because my goal to write a bit about every day was not made possible. By day three, there was just too much. I managed a blog entry on day four, and promised more, but was not able to do it.
The reason why this upset me is because there was so much to share, so many insights, so many “A-ha” moments. We recently taped a Catholic Focus talking about our Eucharistic Congress experience (to be broadcast in September), and it allowed me to “relive” the Congress and be able to remember many of those wonderful moments.
Not surprisingly, for me, many of them had to do, not with the Eucharist specifically, but with marriage. Which makes sense, because what is true for one Sacrament, is true for all of them.
On June 18th, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina, spoke on the daily theme of “The Eucharist builds up the Church, the Sacrament of Salvation”, his talk titled: “The Eucharist and the Church, Mystery of the Covenant”.
As he began, I was brought back (made memory) to a most awesome week I had in Buenos Aires in January 2001 for that year’s Youth Congress of Latin American Bishops. Youth and Youth Ministry representatives, priests, Bishops and a few Cardinals from all 23 Latin American countries and Spain, gathered in a small retreat house for six days, to reflect on the state of youth ministry in the continent. It was one of the first of many World Youth Day blessings for me.
The reason why Cardinal Bergoglio’s talk reminded me of this meeting (other than the fact that he is Argentinian) was because of the approach to the topic. It was very organised. He had the topic divided into “Don” (gift) and “tarea” (work). Each topic had subtopics and even sub-sub-topics. This was how the week in Buenos Aires, seven years ago was structured.
I must say that a lot of it went over my head. While amazing, a lot of it sounded a bit academic and far out of my reach. That is often true of topics that have so much depth to them.
Then he said something that will forever change my attitude towards the Eucharist and marriage: “The institution of the Eucharist anticipates the Sacrifice on the Cross.”
He went on to explain, “So that the disciples, when they realised (each in their own time) what Christ had offered in His passion, [they also realized] that they already had received Him and that He had already made them participants in this redemptive sacrifice.”
This blew me away. He meant that the Sacrifice on the Cross would have had no meaning, had the Eucharist not been first instituted. Without the Eucharist, the sacrifice on the Cross, would have only been a total act of God, but without anyone capable of receiving it. “The wine would have broken the old wine skins,” he said. But instead, “the act of the Cross is received into the new wine skin of the hearts that have already received Him and pre-tasted Him in the Eucharist.” He concluded, “That is why all the Passion could have and can be contemplated as salvific, because those who contemplate on it are “already included,” in communion with the salvific love beating in the Lord who suffers it.”
I don’t know if that makes any sense to anyone. Let me explain: Christ had to institute the Eucharist first, in order to prepare the disciples’ hearts, for His passion – so that they could be included in His passion. That makes sense, because the only way that WE are included in His Passion, is through and thanks to, the Eucharist. If it’s true for us, it must have been true for the disciples.
And the washing of the feet, the mundane application of the sacrifice is so key. In many ways, the Eucharist and the sacrifice on the Cross, would also have no meaning without the washing of the feet. It is in the washing of the feet that we can participate in the sacrifice. Most of us are not called to die for someone else, but we are called, and have daily opportunities to serve each other, to wash each other’s feet.
Here’s the clincher for me. Cardinal Bergoglio used marriage as an example: Christ had to anticipate his death on the Cross with the
institution of the Eucharist so his sacrifice could be received. Just like the marriage couple that “anticipates” their love in the vows, so that when they consummate that same sacramental love, it can be received and not “break the wine skins.” So many couples are breaking the wine skins because the love they share is not anticipated in the vows.
It may be a bit complicated, but for me was the insight of the week. In essence it all means that without the Church, and without the Eucharist, the love of God, as expressed to us through the Sacrifice on the Cross (John 3:16), cannot be received.
What does this all mean to me in my daily life? Well, how to I participate in the Sacrifice of the Cross? How do I participate in the Eucharist? How do I live the Eucharistic mission? How do I live my marriage? Am I breaking the old wine skins, or am I letting God renew the wine skins of my heart so that my heart can be an adequate vessel to receive his Love and His presence? Are you?
Pedro and Mary Rose Bacani filming at the University of St. Thomas
Recently I was back at York University (it’s been a long time) for an event and I heard the University being referred to as a “liberal arts school”. I had never thought of York as a liberal arts school. Of course, I was there studying theatre and was very much immersed in their conservatory program. At the same time, it’s true that all students were required to take a social science, a natural science and a humanities course, and several other courses outside of our own faculty and department. I guess that made our education a liberal arts one.
It made me think of my high school education. I am an I.B. grad. The International Baccalaureate is an internationally recognised university preparatory diploma, which requires the students to take one course in each of the following areas: humanities, maths, sciences, arts and two language courses. On top of this, in order to graduate the students have to engage in at least one semester of a social service activity, a creative activity and a service to the college community. I must say, I was very proud of the well-rounded education I received.
Last month a few of us from S+L TV spent a week at the University of St. Thomas in Houston Texas. UST is a Basilian University and it provides its students with a very strong liberal arts education.
Had you asked me before I went to UST what a Catholic University looked like, I would’ve said that it would be like Franciscan University in Steubenville, Thomas Aquinas College, or Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, right here in our very own back yard, in Barry’s Bay, Ontario. What I found was very different.
I had read that all major universities in the U.S. were founded by Christians, for Christian purposes: Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia (which was founded as King’s College). In fact, what I learned was that the university concept was a truly Christian one – as learning about God, requires learning about Scripture and Nature and learning about these, requires a well-rounded knowledge of a lot of things. So that was a pretty new concept for me: that the University, at its core, is a Catholic Institution.
Interviewing students at UST
And it makes sense: universities are a place where we search for truth, for meaning. If all we are doing is focusing on one particular aspect of vocational training, with the hopes of landing a good career, we may end up as good engineers, lawyers or teachers, but how does that prepare us for life in general? How does that make us better, wise people?
Well, I certainly believe that having gone through the IB program made me a better student, and having been required to take sciences and humanities in order to get my theatre degree, makes me a better theatre-person. It’s true, York University is not a Catholic institution in the least, but the very fact that they have a core curriculum means that their approach to education is a universal one and that, in itself is Catholic.
And send us your comments; about your experiences with education and what university you attended and why, we love to hear from you.
Pedro
First published March 17, 2008
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12
It’s not that I’ve got it all down pat – ready to go. I have not discovered holiness anymore than the next guy – I don’t think I am closer to God or Heaven than anyone and I am not certain that my religion is better than any others.
I struggle with these things. I do wish to know, love and serve God. Honestly, six years ago, I didn’t know what that meant. I can’t explain what it feels like to “feel called.” It’s not like I heard a voice or anything. It’s not even really a feeling – it’s that and more. How do you know you’re in love with someone? Is it just the feeling, or is it something more – something organic – from deep within, deeper than where feelings come from? How do you know your whole destiny is to go home to the Creator? I long to go home to be with God. I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been taught that, or because it’s deep desire within me – that has always been there. That I was created that way…. that I am being created that way. I believe God lives in our desires.
And at the same time I know that there is nothing I can do to get to Heaven. There is nothing any of us can do to get to Heaven. We go to Heaven because God loves us and wants us to be there with Him. We get there because of God’s Grace. Is it enough to simply have that desire – the desire to know, love and serve God – the way I long to know, love and serve my wife – the desire to be with Him?
My limited humanity (in my understanding of the Gospels and what wise people have written) tells me that the way to know, love and serve God is to know, love and serve others. This is what “feed the hungry,
clothe the naked, and console the afflicted” is all about. This is what Mother Teresa spent a lifetime doing: “If you do it to the least of these, you do it to me.” And so, every day I try to do what I do and do it well. I try to make my body a living sacrifice and holy (even though I am not sure what that really means). I try to be kind and compassionate to others. I try to listen to others and help where I am needed. I try to console those who need consolation. I try not to act big and I try not to think that I have all the answers. I try to simplify my life – to uncomplicate my life – to clear it of all the clutter. That’s what the Sabbath was created for. That is what this season of Lent, and in particular this Holy Week allows me to do. I try to keep in mind that I need God and without Him I can do nothing.
Pedro
deacon pedro 