A Challenge From JPII and I

The first encyclical I ever read was Evangelium Vitae by Pope John Paul II.  And I couldn't put it down.  I had never read a papal document before at that point, but I quickly realized that I would be reading them often from then on. Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life") remains one of my favorite encyclicals.  (An encyclical is basically a letter from the Holy Father to the faithful around the world on a particular subject.)

Focusing on the topic of the sacredness and inviolability of all human life, JPII clearly articulates the "incomparable worth of the human person", takes a brave and real look at threats to human life and why those threats exist, then provides an outlook on how to usher in a new 'culture of life'.  He provides a basis for all this within natural law, ethics and theology.

January is a month in which the life issues are heavily discussed due to the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade which legalized abortion nationally in 1973.   I, therefore, would like to encourage you and challenge you to read Evangelium Vitae before the month is over.  It would be a great introduction to reading encyclicals if you haven't done so before and it's simply a wonderful document to read.  It's easy to understand and flows well - dont' be intimated just because it's a papal document and you think it will be complicated - I promise, it's not.  If you want to print it be aware that, depending on the font size, it could take around 85 pages or so if printed on only one side - but you will fly through it.  You can read it for free online here or buy it in book form (which is how I prefer to read Church documents) here or at any Catholic bookstore.

I'll highlight a couple paragraphs from it - one where he discusses threats to human life and one where he discusses building a culture of life:

...when the sense of God is lost, the sense of man is also threatened and poisoned, as the Second Vatican Council concisely states: "Without the Creator the creature would disappear ... But when God is forgotten the creature itself grows unintelligible". Man is no longer able to see himself as "mysteriously different" from other earthly creatures; he regards himself merely as one more living being, as an organism which, at most, has reached a very high stage of perfection. Enclosed in the narrow horizon of his physical nature, he is somehow reduced to being "a thing", and no longer grasps the "transcendent" character of his "existence as man". He no longer considers life as a splendid gift of God, something "sacred" entrusted to his responsibility and thus also to his loving care and "veneration". Life itself becomes a mere "thing", which man claims as his exclusive property, completely subject to his control and manipulation.

So here he is getting at the ultimate cause of the degradation and disrespect for life that we so often see - not only in such actions that cause physical death, but also in actions that cause us to treat one another as objects, as mere 'things' to be used and manipulated. He recognizes something intrinsic in the human person - that we are more than animals, we are persons and we are made in God's image and likeness.  But when we try to push God out of the picture we degrade ourselves into something which we are not.  Hence, life becomes disposable in our minds when we kick God out.  John Paul had a keen understanding of this as he came from a Poland that had been occupied by a communist government - this government sought to do away with God and religion, making the worker's usefulness the only scale upon which to base a person's worth.  But man is not a machine whose worth is only based on what he or she can do.  Human beings have intrinsic worth because of who we are as persons made in God's image, therefore, our worth is based on God himself.  This is why John Paul makes this point that if God is forgotten, who man is will also be forgotten. 

Side note: All of this gives slight insight on why John Paul fought so hard to bring about the end of the communist reign. In 1979, not long after he was elected to the papacy he made his first papal pilgrimage to Poland and during his homily in Krakow, the people started chanting, "We want God! We want God!".  Life is always better when God is at the center.  (There will soon be another blog post on his first pilgrimage to Poland).

Back to Evangelium Vitae:

We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society.

This involves above all proclaiming the core of this Gospel. It is the proclamation of a living God who is close to us, who calls us to profound communion with himself and awakens in us the certain hope of eternal life. It is the affirmation of the inseparable connection between the person, his life and his bodiliness. It is the presentation of human life as a life of relationship, a gift of God, the fruit and sign of his love. It is the proclamation that Jesus has a unique relationship with every person, which enables us to see in every human face the face of Christ. It is the call for a "sincere gift of self" as the fullest way to realize our personal freedom.

It also involves making clear all the consequences of this Gospel. These can be summed up as follows: human life, as a gift of God, is sacred and inviolable. For this reason procured abortion and euthanasia are absolutely unacceptable. Not only must human life not be taken, but it must be protected with loving concern. The meaning of life is found in giving and receiving love, and in this light human sexuality and procreation reach their true and full significance. Love also gives meaning to suffering and death; despite the mystery which surrounds them, they can become saving events. Respect for life requires that science and technology should always be at the service of man and his integral development. Society as a whole must respect, defend and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person's life.

In short, if we want to restore a culture of life and civilization of love, we must share the Gospel.  If kicking God out brings about a degradation of human life, then it follows that recognizing God and cultivating our relationship with Him by His grace will allow human life to flourish. 

Side note: This gives us further insight into reasons why JPII wanted to usher in a new evangelization.

Prayer is the key.  Let us pray that the new evangelization will continue to flourish and bear fruit to bring about a new culture of life and civilization of love.  (And don't forget to read Evangelium Vitae by the end of the month!)