Evangelium Vitae
Chapter II
I came that they may have life.
The Christian Message Concerning Life
"The life was made manifest,
and we saw it" (1 Jn 1:2): with our gaze fixed on Christ,
"the Word of life"
29. Faced with the countless grave threats to life present
in the modern world, one could feel overwhelmed by sheer powerlessness:
good can never be powerful enough to triumph over evil!
At such times the People of God, and this includes every
believer, is called to profess with humility and courage its
faith in Jesus Christ, "the Word of life" (1
Jn 1:1). The Gospel of life is not simply a reflection,
however new and profound, on human life. Nor is it merely
a commandment aimed at raising awareness and bringing about
significant changes in society. Still less is it an illusory
promise of a better future. The Gospel of life is something
concrete and personal, for it consists in the proclamation
of the very person of Jesus. Jesus made himself known
to the Apostle Thomas, and in him to every person, with the
words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life"
(Jn 14:6). This is also how he spoke of himself to
Martha, the sister of Lazarus: "I am the resurrection
and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall
he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never
die" (Jn 11:25-26). Jesus is the Son who from
all eternity receives life from the Father (cf. Jn 5:26),
and who has come among men to make them sharers in this gift:
"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly"
(Jn 10:10).
Through the words, the actions and the very person of Jesus,
man is given the possibility of "knowing" the
complete truth concerning the value of human life. From
this "source" he receives, in particular, the capacity
to "accomplish" this truth perfectly (cf. Jn
3:21), that is, to accept and fulfil completely the responsibility
of loving and serving, of defending and promoting human life.
In Christ, the Gospel of life is definitively proclaimed
and fully given. This is the Gospel which, already present
in the Revelation of the Old Testament, and indeed written
in the heart of every man and woman, has echoed in every conscience
"from the beginning", from the time of creation
itself, in such a way that, despite the negative consequences
of sin, it can also be known in its essential traits by
human reason. As the Second Vatican Council teaches, Christ
"perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his whole
work of making himself present and manifesting himself; through
his words and deeds, his signs and wonders, but especially
through his death and glorious Resurrection from the dead
and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover, he confirmed
with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed: that God
is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death,
and to raise us up to life eternal".22
30. Hence, with our attention fixed on the Lord Jesus, we
wish to hear from him once again "the words of God"
(Jn 3:34) and meditate anew on the Gospel of life.
The deepest and most original meaning of this meditation
on what revelation tells us about human life was taken up
by the Apostle John in the opening words of his First Letter:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon
and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -
the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to
it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the
Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen
and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship
with us" (1:1-3).
In Jesus, the "Word of life", God's eternal life
is thus proclaimed and given. Thanks to this proclamation
and gift, our physical and spiritual life, also in its earthly
phase, acquires its full value and meaning, for God's eternal
life is in fact the end to which our living in this world
is directed and called. In this way the Gospel of life
includes everything that human experience and reason tell
us about the value of human life, accepting it, purifying
it, exalting it and bringing it to fulfilment.
"The Lord is my strength
and my song, and he has become my salvation" (Ex 15:2):
life is always a good
31. The fullness of the Gospel message about life was prepared
for in the Old Testament. Especially in the events of the
Exodus, the centre of the Old Testament faith experience,
Israel discovered the preciousness of its life in the eyes
of God. When it seemed doomed to extermination because of
the threat of death hanging over all its newborn males (cf.
Ex 1:15-22), the Lord revealed himself to Israel as
its Saviour, with the power to ensure a future to those without
hope. Israel thus comes to know clearly that its existence
is not at the mercy of a Pharaoh who can exploit it at
his despotic whim. On the contrary, Israel's life is the
object of God's gentle and intense love.
Freedom from slavery meant the gift of an identity, the recognition
of an indestructible dignity and the beginning of a new
history, in which the discovery of God and discovery of
self go hand in hand. The Exodus was a foundational experience
and a model for the future. Through it, Israel comes to learn
that whenever its existence is threatened it need only turn
to God with renewed trust in order to find in him effective
help: "I formed you, you are my servant; O Israel, you
will not be forgotten by me" (Is 44:21).
Thus, in coming to know the value of its own existence as
a people, Israel also grows in its perception of the meaning
and value of life itself. This reflection is developed
more specifically in the Wisdom Literature, on the basis of
daily experience of the precariousness of life and awareness
of the threats which assail it. Faced with the contradictions
of life, faith is challenged to respond.
More than anything else, it is the problem of suffering which
challenges faith and puts it to the test. How can we fail
to appreciate the universal anguish of man when we meditate
on the Book of Job? The innocent man overwhelmed by suffering
is understandably led to wonder: "Why is light given
to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more
than for hid treasures?" (3:20-21). But even when the
darkness is deepest, faith points to a trusting and adoring
acknowledgment of the "mystery": "I know that
you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be
thwarted" (Job 42:2).
Revelation progressively allows the first notion of immortal
life planted by the Creator in the human heart to be grasped
with ever greater clarity: "He has made everything beautiful
in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind"
(Ec 3:11). This first notion of totality and fullness
is waiting to be manifested in love and brought to perfection,
by God's free gift, through sharing in his eternal life.
"The name of Jesus ... has
made this man strong" (Acts 3:16): in the uncertainties
of human life, Jesus brings life's meaning to fulfilment
32. The experience of the people of the Covenant is renewed
in the experience of all the "poor" who meet Jesus
of Nazareth. Just as God who "loves the living"
(cf. Wis 11:26) had reassured Israel in the midst of
danger, so now the Son of God proclaims to all who feel threatened
and hindered that their lives too are a good to which the
Father's love gives meaning and value.
"The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the
poor have good news preached to them" (Lk 7:22).
With these words of the Prophet Isaiah (35:5-6, 61:1), Jesus
sets forth the meaning of his own mission: all who suffer
because their lives are in some way "diminished"
thus hear from him the "good news" of God's concern
for them, and they know for certain that their lives too are
a gift carefully guarded in the hands of the Father (cf. Mt
6:25-34).
It is above all the "poor" to whom Jesus speaks
in his preaching and actions. The crowds of the sick and the
outcasts who follow him and seek him out (cf. Mt 4:23-25)
find in his words and actions a revelation of the great value
of their lives and of how their hope of salvation is well-founded.
The same thing has taken place in the Church's mission from
the beginning. When the Church proclaims Christ as the one
who "went about doing good and healing all that were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (Acts
10:38), she is conscious of being the bearer of a message
of salvation which resounds in all its newness precisely amid
the hardships and poverty of human life. Peter cured the cripple
who daily sought alms at the "Beautiful Gate" of
the Temple in Jerusalem, saying: "I have no silver and
gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, walk" (Acts 3:6). By faith in Jesus,
"the Author of life" (Acts 3:15), life which
lies abandoned and cries out for help regains self-esteem
and full dignity.
The words and deeds of Jesus and those of his Church are
not meant only for those who are sick or suffering or in some
way neglected by society. On a deeper level they affect the
very meaning of every person's life in its moral and spiritual
dimensions. Only those who recognize that their life is
marked by the evil of sin can discover in an encounter with
Jesus the Saviour the truth and the authenticity of their
own existence. Jesus himself says as much: "Those who
are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"
(Lk 5:31-32).
But the person who, like the rich land-owner in the Gospel
parable, thinks that he can make his life secure by the possession
of material goods alone, is deluding himself. Life is slipping
away from him, and very soon he will find himself bereft of
it without ever having appreciated its real meaning: "Fool!
This night your soul is required of you; and the things you
have prepared, whose will they be?" (Lk 12:20).
33. In Jesus' own life, from beginning to end, we find a
singular "dialectic" between the experience of the
uncertainty of human life and the affirmation of its value.
Jesus' life is marked by uncertainty from the very moment
of his birth. He is certainly accepted by the righteous,
who echo Mary's immediate and joyful "yes" (cf.
Lk 1:38). But there is also, from the start, rejection
on the part of a world which grows hostile and looks for
the child in order "to destroy him" (Mt 2:13);
a world which remains indifferent and unconcerned about the
fulfilment of the mystery of this life entering the world:
"there was no place for them in the inn" (Lk
2:7). In this contrast between threats and insecurity
on the one hand and the power of God's gift on the other,
there shines forth all the more clearly the glory which radiates
from the house at Nazareth and from the manger at Bethlehem:
this life which is born is salvation for all humanity (cf.
Lk 2:11).
Life's contradictions and risks were fully accepted by Jesus:
"though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor
8:9). The poverty of which Paul speaks is not only a stripping
of divine privileges, but also a sharing in the lowliest and
most vulnerable conditions of human life (cf. Phil 2:6-7).
Jesus lived this poverty throughout his life, until the culminating
moment of the Cross: "he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every
name" (Phil 2:8-9). It is precisely by his
death that Jesus reveals all the splendour and value
of life, inasmuch as his self-oblation on the Cross becomes
the source of new life for all people (cf. Jn 12:32).
In his journeying amid contradictions and in the very loss
of his life, Jesus is guided by the certainty that his life
is in the hands of the Father. Consequently, on the Cross,
he can say to him: "Father, into your hands I commend
my spirit!" (Lk 23:46), that is, my life. Truly
great must be the value of human life if the Son of God has
taken it up and made it the instrument of the salvation of
all humanity!
"Called ... to be conformed
to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:28-29): God's glory shines
on the face of man
34. Life is always a good. This is an instinctive perception
and a fact of experience, and man is called to grasp the profound
reason why this is so.
Why is life a good? This question is found everywhere
in the Bible, and from the very first pages it receives a
powerful and amazing answer. The life which God gives man
is quite different from the life of all other living creatures,
inasmuch as man, although formed from the dust of the earth
(cf. Gen 2:7, 3:19; Job 34:15; Ps 103:14;
104:29), is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign
of his presence, a trace of his glory (cf. Gen
1:26-27; Ps 8:6). This is what Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
wanted to emphasize in his celebrated definition: "Man,
living man, is the glory of God".23
Man has been given a sublime dignity, based on the
intimate bond which unites him to his Creator: in man there
shines forth a reflection of God himself.
The Book of Genesis affirms this when, in the first account
of creation, it places man at the summit of God's creative
activity, as its crown, at the culmination of a process which
leads from indistinct chaos to the most perfect of creatures.
Everything in creation is ordered to man and everything
is made subject to him: "Fill the earth and subdue
it; and have dominion over ... every living thing" (1:28);
this is God's command to the man and the woman. A similar
message is found also in the other account of creation: "The
Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to
till it and keep it" (Gen 2:15). We see here a
clear affirmation of the primacy of man over things; these
are made subject to him and entrusted to his responsible care,
whereas for no reason can he be made subject to other men
and almost reduced to the level of a thing.
In the biblical narrative, the difference between man and
other creatures is shown above all by the fact that only the
creation of man is presented as the result of a special decision
on the part of God, a deliberation to establish a particular
and specific bond with the Creator: "Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26).
The life which God offers to man is a gift by which
God shares something of himself with his creature.
Israel would ponder at length the meaning of this particular
bond between man and God. The Book of Sirach too recognizes
that God, in creating human beings, "endowed them with
strength like his own, and made them in his own image"
(17:3). The biblical author sees as part of this image not
only man's dominion over the world but also those spiritual
faculties which are distinctively human, such as reason,
discernment between good and evil, and free will: "He
filled them with knowledge and understanding, and showed them
good and evil" (Sir 17:7). The ability to attain
truth and freedom are human prerogatives inasmuch as man
is created in the image of his Creator, God who is true and
just (cf. Dt 32:4). Man alone, among all visible creatures,
is "capable of knowing and loving his Creator".24
The life which God bestows upon man is much more than mere
existence in time. It is a drive towards fullness of life;
it is the seed of an existence which transcends the very
limits of time: "For God created man for incorruption,
and made him in the image of his own eternity" (Wis
2:23).
35. The Yahwist account of creation expresses the same conviction.
This ancient narrative speaks of a divine breath which
is breathed into man so that he may come to life: "The
Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
being" (Gen 2:7).
The divine origin of this spirit of life explains the perennial
dissatisfaction which man feels throughout his days on earth.
Because he is made by God and bears within himself an indelible
imprint of God, man is naturally drawn to God. When he heeds
the deepest yearnings of the heart, every man must make his
own the words of truth expressed by Saint Augustine: "You
have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless
until they rest in you".25
How very significant is the dissatisfaction which marks man's
life in Eden as long as his sole point of reference is the
world of plants and animals (cf. Gen 2:20). Only the
appearance of the woman, a being who is flesh of his flesh
and bone of his bones (cf. Gen 2:23), and in whom the
spirit of God the Creator is also alive, can satisfy the need
for interpersonal dialogue, so vital for human existence.
In the other, whether man or woman, there is a reflection
of God himself, the definitive goal and fulfilment of every
person.
"What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son
of man that you care for him?", the Psalmist wonders
(Ps 8:4). Compared to the immensity of the universe,
man is very small, and yet this very contrast reveals his
greatness: "You have made him little less than a god,
and crown him with glory and honour" (Ps 8:5).
The glory of God shines on the face of man. In man the
Creator finds his rest, as Saint Ambrose comments with a sense
of awe: "The sixth day is finished and the creation of
the world ends with the formation of that masterpiece which
is man, who exercises dominion over all living creatures and
is as it were the crown of the universe and the supreme beauty
of every created being. Truly we should maintain a reverential
silence, since the Lord rested from every work he had undertaken
in the world. He rested then in the depths of man, he rested
in man's mind and in his thought; after all, he had created
man endowed with reason, capable of imitating him, of emulating
his virtue, of hungering for heavenly graces. In these his
gifts God reposes, who has said: 'Upon whom shall I rest,
if not upon the one who is humble, contrite in spirit and
trembles at my word?' (Is 66:1-2). I thank the Lord
our God who has created so wonderful a work in which to take
his rest".26
36. Unfortunately, God's marvellous plan was marred by the
appearance of sin in history. Through sin, man rebels against
his Creator and ends up by worshipping creatures: "They
exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and
served the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom
1:25). As a result man not only deforms the image of God
in his own person, but is tempted to offences against it in
others as well, replacing relationships of communion by attitudes
of distrust, indifference, hostility and even murderous hatred.
When God is not acknowledged as God, the profound
meaning of man is betrayed and communion between people is
compromised.
In the life of man, God's image shines forth anew and is
again revealed in all its fullness at the coming of the Son
of God in human flesh. "Christ is the image of the invisible
God" (Col 1:15), he "reflects the glory of
God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Heb 1:3).
He is the perfect image of the Father.
The plan of life given to the first Adam finds at last its
fulfilment in Christ. Whereas the disobedience of Adam had
ruined and marred God's plan for human life and introduced
death into the world, the redemptive obedience of Christ is
the source of grace poured out upon the human race, opening
wide to everyone the gates of the kingdom of life (cf. Rom
5:12-21). As the Apostle Paul states: "The first
man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving
spirit" (1 Cor 15:45).
All who commit themselves to following Christ are given the
fullness of life: the divine image is restored, renewed and
brought to perfection in them. God's plan for human beings
is this, that they should "be conformed to the image
of his Son" (Rom 8:29). Only thus, in the splendour
of this image, can man be freed from the slavery of idolatry,
rebuild lost fellowship and rediscover his true identity.
"Whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die" (Jn 11:26): the gift of eternal
life
37. The life which the Son of God came to give to human beings
cannot be reduced to mere existence in time. The life which
was always "in him" and which is the "light
of men" (Jn 1:4) consists in being begotten
of God and sharing in the fullness of his love: "To
all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power
to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor
of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God"
(Jn 1:12-13).
Sometimes Jesus refers to this life which he came to give
simply as "life", and he presents being born of
God as a necessary condition if man is to attain the end for
which God has created him: "Unless one is born anew,
he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:3). To
give this life is the real object of Jesus' mission: he is
the one who "comes down from heaven, and gives life to
the world" (Jn 6:33). Thus can he truly say: "He
who follows me ... will have the light of life" (Jn
8:12).
At other times, Jesus speaks of "eternal life".
Here the adjective does more than merely evoke a perspective
which is beyond time. The life which Jesus promises and gives
is "eternal" because it is a full participation
in the life of the "Eternal One". Whoever believes
in Jesus and enters into communion with him has eternal life
(cf. Jn 3:15; 6:40) because he hears from Jesus the
only words which reveal and communicate to his existence the
fullness of life. These are the "words of eternal life"
which Peter acknowledges in his confession of faith: "Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and
we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the
Holy One of God" (Jn 6:68-69). Jesus himself,
addressing the Father in the great priestly prayer, declares
what eternal life consists in: "This is eternal life,
that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3). To know God and
his Son is to accept the mystery of the loving communion of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit into one's own life,
which even now is open to eternal life because it shares
in the life of God.
38. Eternal life is therefore the life of God himself and
at the same time the life of the children of God. As
they ponder this unexpected and inexpressible truth which
comes to us from God in Christ, believers cannot fail to be
filled with ever new wonder and unbounded gratitude. They
can say in the words of the Apostle John: "See what love
the Father has given us, that we should be called children
of God; and so we are. ... Beloved, we are God's children
now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see
him as he is" (1 Jn 3:1-2).
Here the Christian truth about life becomes most sublime.
The dignity of this life is linked not only to its beginning,
to the fact that it comes from God, but also to its final
end, to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and
love of him. In the light of this truth Saint Irenaeus qualifies
and completes his praise of man: "the glory of God"
is indeed, "man, living man", but "the life
of man consists in the vision of God".27
Immediate consequences arise from this for human life in
its earthly state, in which, for that matter, eternal
life already springs forth and begins to grow. Although man
instinctively loves life because it is a good, this love will
find further inspiration and strength, and new breadth and
depth, in the divine dimensions of this good. Similarly, the
love which every human being has for life cannot be reduced
simply to a desire to have sufficient space for self-expression
and for entering into relationships with others; rather, it
devel- ops in a joyous awareness that life can become the
"place" where God manifests himself, where we meet
him and enter into communion with him. The life which Jesus
gives in no way lessens the value of our existence in time;
it takes it and directs it to its final destiny: "I am
the resurrection and the life ... whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die" (Jn 11:25-26).
"From man in regard to
his fellow man I will demand an accounting" (Gen 9:5):
reverence and love for every human life
39. Man's life comes from God; it is his gift, his image
and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life. God therefore
is the sole Lord of this life: man cannot do with it
as he wills. God himself makes this clear to Noah after the
Flood: "For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an
accounting ... and from man in regard to his fellow man I
will demand an accounting for human life" (Gen 9:5).
The biblical text is concerned to emphasize how the sacredness
of life has its foundation in God and in his creative activity:
"For God made man in his own image" (Gen 9:6).
Human life and death are thus in the hands of God, in his
power: "In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind", exclaims Job (12:10).
"The Lord brings to death and brings to life; he brings
down to Sheol and raises up" (1 Sam 2:6). He alone
can say: "It is I who bring both death and life"
(Dt 32:39).
But God does not exercise this power in an arbitrary and
threatening way, but rather as part of his care and loving
concern for his creatures. If it is true that human life
is in the hands of God, it is no less true that these are
loving hands, like those of a mother who accepts, nurtures
and takes care of her child: "I have calmed and quieted
my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast; like
a child that is quieted is my soul" (Ps 131:2;
cf. Is 49:15; 66:12-13; Hos 11:4). Thus Israel
does not see in the history of peoples and in the destiny
of individuals the outcome of mere chance or of blind fate,
but rather the results of a loving plan by which God brings
together all the possibilities of life and opposes the powers
of death arising from sin: "God did not make death, and
he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created
all things that they might exist" (Wis 1:13-14).
40. The sacredness of life gives rise to its inviolability,
written from the beginning in man's heart, in his conscience.
The question: "What have you done?" (Gen 4:10),
which God addresses to Cain after he has killed his brother
Abel, interprets the experience of every person: in the depths
of his conscience, man is always reminded of the inviolability
of life - his own life and that of others - as something which
does not belong to him, because it is the property and gift
of God the Creator and Father.
The commandment regarding the inviolability of human life
reverberates at the heart of the "ten words"
in the covenant of Sinai (cf. Ex 34:28). In the
first place that commandment prohibits murder: "You shall
not kill" (Ex 20:13); "do not slay the innocent
and righteous" (Ex 23:7). But, as is brought out
in Israel's later legislation, it also prohibits all personal
injury inflicted on another (cf. Ex 21:12-27). Of course
we must recognize that in the Old Testament this sense of
the value of life, though already quite marked, does not yet
reach the refinement found in the Sermon on the Mount. This
is apparent in some aspects of the current penal legislation,
which provided for severe forms of corporal punishment and
even the death penalty. But the overall message, which the
New Testament will bring to perfection, is a forceful appeal
for respect for the inviolability of physical life and the
integrity of the person. It culminates in the positive commandment
which obliges us to be responsible for our neighbour as for
ourselves: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself"
(Lev 19:18).
41. The commandment "You shall not kill", included
and more fully expressed in the positive command of love for
one's neighbour, is reaffirmed in all its force by the
Lord Jesus. To the rich young man who asks him: "Teacher,
what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?", Jesus
replies: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments"
(Mt 19:16,17). And he quotes, as the first of these:
"You shall not kill" (Mt 19:18). In the Sermon
on the Mount, Jesus demands from his disciples a righteousness
which surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, also
with regard to respect for life: "You have heard that
it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever
kills shall be liable to judgment'. But I say to you that
every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to
judgment" (Mt 5:21-22).
By his words and actions Jesus further unveils the positive
requirements of the commandment regarding the inviolability
of life. These requirements were already present in the Old
Testament, where legislation dealt with protecting and defending
life when it was weak and threatened: in the case of foreigners,
widows, orphans, the sick and the poor in general, including
children in the womb (cf. Ex 21:22; 22:20-26). With
Jesus these positive requirements assume new force and urgency,
and are revealed in all their breadth and depth: they range
from caring for the life of one's brother (whether
a blood brother, someone belonging to the same people, or
a foreigner living in the land of Israel) to showing concern
for the stranger, even to the point of loving one's
enemy.
A stranger is no longer a stranger for the person who mustbecome
a neighbour to someone in need, to the point of accepting
responsibility for his life, as the parable of the Good Samaritan
shows so clearly (cf. Lk 10:25-37). Even an enemy ceases
to be an enemy for the person who is obliged to love him (cf.
Mt 5:38-48; Lk 6:27-35), to "do good"
to him (cf. Lk 6:27, 33, 35) and to respond to his
immediate needs promptly and with no expectation of repayment
(cf. Lk 6:34-35). The height of this love is to pray
for one's enemy. By so doing we achieve harmony with the providential
love of God: "But I say to you, love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children
of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise
on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and
on the unjust" (Mt 5:44-45; cf. Lk 6:28,
35).
Thus the deepest element of God's commandment to protect
human life is the requirement to show reverence and love
for every person and the life of every person. This is
the teaching which the Apostle Paul, echoing the words of
Jesus, address- es to the Christians in Rome: "The commandments,
'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall
not steal, You shall not covet', and any other commandment,
are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbour
as yourself'. Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:9-10).
"Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28): man's responsibility
for life
42. To defend and promote life, to show reverence and love
for it, is a task which God entrusts to every man, calling
him as his living image to share in his own lordship over
the world: "God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and
have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds
of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the
earth' " (Gen 1:28).
The biblical text clearly shows the breadth and depth of
the lordship which God bestows on man. It is a matter first
of all of dominion over the earth and over every living
creature, as the Book of Wisdom makes clear: "O God
of my fathers and Lord of mercy ... by your wisdom you have
formed man, to have dominion over the creatures you have made,
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness" (Wis
9:1, 2-3). The Psalmist too extols the dominion given
to man as a sign of glory and honour from his Creator: "You
have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you
have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and
also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the
fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea"
(Ps 8:6-8).
As one called to till and look after the garden of the world
(cf. Gen 2:15), man has a specific responsibility towards
the environment in which he lives, towards the creation
which God has put at the service of his personal dignity,
of his life, not only for the present but also for future
generations. It is the ecological question - ranging
from the preservation of the natural habitats of the different
species of animals and of other forms of life to "human
ecology" properly speaking 28
- which finds in the Bible clear and strong ethical direction,
leading to a solution which respects the great good of life,
of every life. In fact, "the do- minion granted to man
by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak
of a freedom to 'use and misuse', or to dispose of things
as one pleases. The limitation imposed from the beginning
by the Creator himself and expressed symbolically by the prohibition
not to 'eat of the fruit of the tree' (cf. Gen 2:16-17)
shows clearly enough that, when it comes to the natural world,
we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral
ones, which cannot be violated with impunity".29
43. A certain sharing by man in God's lordship is also evident
in the specific responsibility which he is given for
human life as such. It is a responsibility which reaches
its highest point in the giving of life through procreation
by man and woman in marriage. As the Second Vatican Council
teaches: "God himself who said, 'It is not good for man
to be alone' (Gen 2:18) and 'who made man from the
beginning male and female' (Mt 19:4), wished to share
with man a certain special participation in his own creative
work. Thus he blessed male and female saying: 'Increase and
multiply' (Gen 1:28).30
By speaking of "a certain special participation"
of man and woman in the "creative work" of God,
the Council wishes to point out that having a child is an
event which is deeply human and full of religious meaning,
insofar as it involves both the spouses, who form "one
flesh" (Gen 2:24), and God who makes himself present.
As I wrote in my Letter to Families: "When a new
person is born of the conjugal union of the two, he brings
with him into the world a particular image and likeness of
God himself: the genealogy of the person is inscribed in
the very biology of generation. In affirming that the
spouses, as parents, cooperate with God the Creator in conceiving
and giving birth to a new human being, we are not speaking
merely with reference to the laws of biology. Instead, we
wish to emphasize that God himself is present in human
fatherhood and motherhood quite differently than he is
present in all other instances of begetting 'on earth'. Indeed,
God alone is the source of that 'image and likeness' which
is proper to the human being, as it was received at Creation.
Begetting is the continuation of Creation".31
This is what the Bible teaches in direct and eloquent language
when it reports the joyful cry of the first woman, "the
mother of all the living" (Gen 3:20). Aware that
God has intervened, Eve exclaims: "I have begotten a
man with the help of the Lord" (Gen 4:1). In procreation
therefore, through the communication of life from parents
to child, God's own image and likeness is transmitted, thanks
to the creation of the immortal soul.32
The beginning of the "book of the genealogy of Adam"
expresses it in this way: "When God created man, he made
him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them,
and he blessed them and called them man when they were created.
When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became
the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image,
and named him Seth" (Gen 5:1-3). It is precisely
in their role as co-workers with God who transmits his
image to the new creature that we see the greatness of
couples who are ready "to cooperate with the love of
the Creator and the Saviour, who through them will enlarge
and enrich his own family day by day".33
This is why the Bishop Amphilochius extolled "holy matrimony,
chosen and elevated above all other earthly gifts" as
"the begetter of humanity, the creator of images of God".34
Thus, a man and woman joined in matrimony become partners
in a divine undertaking: through the act of procreation, God's
gift is accepted and a new life opens to the future.
But over and above the specific mission of parents, the
task of accepting and serving life involves everyone; and
this task must be fulfilled above all towards life when it
is at its weakest. It is Christ himself who reminds us
of this when he asks to be loved and served in his brothers
and sisters who are suffering in any way: the hungry, the
thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick, the impris- oned
... Whatever is done to each of them is done to Christ himself
(cf. Mt 25:31-46).
"For you formed my inmost
being" (Ps 139:13): the dignity of the unborn child
44. Human life finds itself most vulnerable when it enters
the world and when it leaves the realm of time to embark upon
eternity. The word of God frequently repeats the call to show
care and respect, above all where life is undermined by sickness
and old age. Although there are no direct and explicit calls
to protect human life at its very beginning, specifically
life not yet born, and life nearing its end, this can easily
be explained by the fact that the mere possibility of harming,
attacking, or actually denying life in these circumstances
is completely foreign to the religious and cultural way of
thinking of the People of God.
In the Old Testament, sterility is dreaded as a curse, while
numerous offspring are viewed as a blessing: "Sons are
a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward"
(Ps 127:3; cf. Ps 128:3-4). This belief is also
based on Israel's awareness of being the people of the Covenant,
called to increase in accordance with the promise made to
Abraham: "Look towards heaven, and number the stars,
if you are able to number them ... so shall your descendants
be" (Gen 15:5). But more than anything else, at
work here is the certainty that the life which parents transmit
has its origins in God. We see this attested in the many biblical
passages which respectfully and lovingly speak of conception,
of the forming of life in the mother's womb, of giving birth
and of the intimate connection between the initial moment
of life and the action of God the Creator.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before
you were born I consecrated you" (Jer 1:5): the
life of every individual, from its very beginning, is part
of God's plan. Job, from the depth of his pain, stops
to contemplate the work of God who miraculously formed his
body in his mother's womb. Here he finds reason for trust,
and he expresses his belief that there is a divine plan for
his life: "You have fashioned and made me; will you then
turn and destroy me? Remember that you have made me of clay;
and will you turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out
like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin
and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You
have granted me life and steadfast love; and your care has
preserved my spirit" (Job 10:8-12). Expressions
of awe and wonder at God's intervention in the life of a child
in its mother's womb occur again and again in the Psalms.35
How can anyone think that even a single moment of this marvellous
process of the unfolding of life could be separated from the
wise and loving work of the Creator, and left prey to human
caprice? Certainly the mother of the seven brothers did not
think so; she professes her faith in God, both the source
and guarantee of life from its very conception, and the foundation
of the hope of new life beyond death: "I do not know
how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave
you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within
each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped
the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things,
will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again,
since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws"
(2 Mac 7:22-23).
45. The New Testament revelation confirms the indisputable
recognition of the value of life from its very beginning.
The exaltation of fruitfulness and the eager expectation
of life resound in the words with which Elizabeth rejoices
in her pregnancy: "The Lord has looked on me ... to take
away my reproach among men" (Lk 1:25). And even
more so, the value of the person from the moment of conception
is celebrated in the meeting between the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth,
and between the two children whom they are carrying in the
womb. It is precisely the children who reveal the advent of
the Messianic age: in their meeting, the redemptive power
of the presence of the Son of God among men first becomes
operative. As Saint Ambrose writes: "The arrival of Mary
and the blessings of the Lord's presence are also speedily
declared ... Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice; but
John was the first to expe- rience grace. She heard according
to the order of nature; he leaped because of the mystery.
She recognized the arrival of Mary; he the arrival of the
Lord. The woman recognized the woman's arrival; the child,
that of the child. The women speak of grace; the babies make
it effective from within to the advantage of their mothers
who, by a double miracle, prophesy under the inspiration of
their children. The infant leaped, the mother was filled with
the Spirit. The mother was not filled before the son, but
after the son was filled with the Holy Spirit, he filled his
mother too".36
"I kept my faith even when I
said, 'I am greatly afflicted' " (Ps 116:10): life in
old age and at times of suffering
46. With regard to the last moments of life too, it would
be anachronistic to expect biblical revelation to make express
reference to present-day issues concerning respect for elderly
and sick persons, or to condemn explicitly attempts to hasten
their end by force. The cultural and religious context of
the Bible is in no way touched by such temptations; indeed,
in that context the wisdom and experience of the elderly are
recognized as a unique source of enrichment for the family
and for society.
Old age is characterized by dignity and surrounded with
reverence (cf. 2 Mac 6:23). The just man does not
seek to be delivered from old age and its burden; on the contrary
his prayer is this: "You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust,
O Lord, from my youth ... so even to old age and grey hairs,
O God, do not forsake me, till I proclaim your might to all
the generations to come" (Ps 71:5, 18). The ideal
of the Messianic age is presented as a time when "no
more shall there be ... an old man who does not fill out his
days" (Is 65:20).
In old age, how should one face the inevitable decline of
life? How should one act in the face of death? The believer
knows that his life is in the hands of God: "You,
O Lord, hold my lot" (cf. Ps 16:5), and he accepts
from God the need to die: "This is the decree from the
Lord for all flesh, and how can you reject the good pleasure
of the Most High?" (Sir 41:3-4). Man is not the
master of life, nor is he the master of death. In life and
in death, he has to entrust himself completely to the "good
pleasure of the Most High", to his loving plan.
In moments of sickness too, man is called to have
the same trust in the Lord and to renew his fundamental faith
in the One who "heals all your diseases" (cf. Ps
103:3). When every hope of good health seems to fade before
a person's eyes - so as to make him cry out: "My days
are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass"
(Ps 102:11) - even then the believer is sustained by
an unshakable faith in God's life-giving power. Illness does
not drive such a person to despair and to seek death, but
makes him cry out in hope: "I kept my faith, even when
I said, 'I am greatly afflicted' " (Ps 116:10);
"O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have
healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the pit"
(Ps 30:2-3).
47. The mission of Jesus, with the many healings he performed,
shows God's great concern even for man's bodily life.
Jesus, as "the physician of the body and of the spirit",37
was sent by the Father to proclaim the good news to the poor
and to heal the brokenhearted (cf. Lk 4:18; Is 61:1).
Later, when he sends his disciples into the world, he gives
them a mission, a mission in which healing the sick goes hand
in hand with the proclamation of the Gospel: "And preach
as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand'. Heal
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons"
(Mt 10:7-8; cf. Mk 6:13; 16:18).
Certainly the life of the body in its earthly state is
not an absolute good for the believer, especially as he
may be asked to give up his life for a greater good. As Jesus
says: "Whoever would save his life will lose it; and
whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save
it" (Mk 8:35). The New Testament gives many different
examples of this. Jesus does not hesitate to sacrifice himself
and he freely makes of his life an offering to the Father
(cf. Jn 10:17) and to those who belong to him (cf.
Jn 10:15). The death of John the Baptist, precursor
of the Saviour, also testifies that earthly existence is not
an absolute good; what is more important is remaining faithful
to the word of the Lord even at the risk of one's life (cf.
Mk 6:17-29). Stephen, losing his earthly life because
of his faithful witness to the Lord's Resurrection, follows
in the Master's footsteps and meets those who are stoning
him with words of forgiveness (cf. Acts 7:59-60), thus
becoming the first of a countless host of martyrs whom the
Church has venerated since the very beginning.
No one, however, can arbitrarily choose whether to live or
die; the absolute master of such a decision is the Creator
alone, in whom "we live and move and have our being"
(Acts 17:28).
"All who hold her fast will
live" (Bar 4:1): from the law of Sinai to the gift of
the Spirit
48. Life is indelibly marked by a truth of its own. By
accepting God's gift, man is obliged to maintain life in
this truth which is essential to it. To detach oneself
from this truth is to condemn oneself to meaninglessness and
unhappiness, and possibly to become a threat to the existence
of others, since the barriers guaranteeing respect for life
and the defence of life, in every circumstance, have been
broken down.
The truth of life is revealed by God's commandment. The
word of the Lord shows concretely the course which life must
follow if it is to respect its own truth and to preserve its
own dignity. The protection of life is not only ensured by
the spe- cific commandment "You shall not kill"
(Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17); the entire Law of the
Lord serves to protect life, because it reveals that truth
in which life finds its full meaning.
It is not surprising, therefore, that God's Covenant with
his people is so closely linked to the perspective of life,
also in its bodily dimension. In that Covenant, God's commandment
is offered as the path of life: "I have set
before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you
obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command
you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his
ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and
his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the
Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering
to take possession of" (Dt 30:15-16). What is
at stake is not only the land of Canaan and the existence
of the people of Israel, but also the world of today and of
the future, and the existence of all humanity. In fact, it
is altogether impossible for life to remain authentic and
complete once it is detached from the good; and the good,
in its turn, is essentially bound to the commandments of the
Lord, that is, to the "law of life" (Sir 17:11).
The good to be done is not added to life as a burden which
weighs on it, since the very purpose of life is that good
and only by doing it can life be built up.
It is thus the Law as a whole which fully protects
human life. This explains why it is so hard to remain faithful
to the commandment "You shall not kill" when the
other "words of life" (cf. Acts 7:38) with
which this commandment is bound up are not observed. Detached
from this wider framework, the commandment is destined to
become nothing more than an obligation imposed from without,
and very soon we begin to look for its limits and try to find
mitigating factors and exceptions. Only when people are open
to the fullness of the truth about God, man and history will
the words "You shall not kill" shine forth once
more as a good for man in himself and in his relations with
others. In such a perspective we can grasp the full truth
of the passage of the Book of Deuteronomy which Jesus repeats
in reply to the first temptation: "Man does not live
by bread alone, but ... by everything that proceeds out of
the mouth of the Lord" (Dt 8:3; cf. Mt 4:4).
It is by listening to the word of the Lord that we are able
to live in dignity and justice. It is by observing the Law
of God that we are able to bring forth fruits of life and
happiness: "All who hold her fast will live, and those
who forsake her will die" (Bar 4:1).
49. The history of Israel shows how difficult it is to
remain faithful to the Law of life which God has inscribed
in human hearts and which he gave on Sinai to the people of
the Covenant. When the people look for ways of living which
ignore God's plan, it is the Prophets in particular who forcefully
remind them that the Lord alone is the authentic source of
life. Thus Jeremiah writes: "My people have committed
two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that
can hold no water" (2:13). The Prophets point an accusing
finger at those who show contempt for life and violate people's
rights: "They trample the head of the poor into the dust
of the earth" (Amos 2:7); "they have filled
this place with the blood of innocents" (Jer 19:4).
Among them, the Prophet Ezekiel frequently condemns the city
of Jerusalem, calling it "the bloody city" (22:2;
24:6, 9), the "city that sheds blood in her own midst"
(22:3).
But while the Prophets condemn offences against life, they
are concerned above all to awaken hope for a new principle
of life, capable of bringing about a renewed relationship
with God and with others, and of opening up new and extraordinary
possibilities for understanding and carrying out all the demands
inherent in the Gospel of life. This will only be possible
thanks to the gift of God who purifies and renews: "I
will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean
from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will
cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit
I will put within you" (Ezek 36:25-26; cf. Jer
31:34). This "new heart" will make it possible
to appreciate and achieve the deepest and most authentic meaning
of life: namely, that of being a gift which is fully realized
in the giving of self. This is the splendid message about
the value of life which comes to us from the figure of the
Servant of the Lord: "When he makes himself an offering
for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his
life ... he shall see the fruit of the trav- ail of his soul
and be satisfied" (Is 53:10, 11).
It is in the coming of Jesus of Nazareth that the Law is
fulfilled and that a new heart is given through his Spirit.
Jesus does not deny the Law but brings it to fulfilment (cf.
Mt 5:17): the Law and the Prophets are summed up in
the golden rule of mutual love (cf. Mt 7:12). In Jesus
the Law becomes once and for all the "gospel", the
good news of God's lordship over the world, which brings all
life back to its roots and its original purpose. This is the
New Law, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus" (Rom 8:2), and its fundamental expression,
following the example of the Lord who gave his life for his
friends (cf. Jn 15:13), is the gift of self in love
for one's brothers and sisters: "We know that we
have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren"
(1 Jn 3:14). This is the law of freedom, joy and blessedness.
"They shall look on him
whom they have pierced" (Jn 19:37): the Gospel of life
is brought to fulfilment on the tree of the Cross
50. At the end of this chapter, in which we have reflected
on the Christian message about life, I would like to pause
with each one of you to contemplate the One who was pierced
and who draws all people to himself (cf. Jn 19:37;
12:32). Looking at "the spectacle" of the Cross
(cf. Lk 23:48) we shall discover in this glorious tree
the fulfilment and the complete revelation of the whole Gospel
of life.
In the early afternoon of Good Friday, "there was darkness
over the whole land ... while the sun's light failed; and
the curtain of the temple was torn in two" (Lk 23:44,
45). This is the symbol of a great cosmic disturbance and
a massive conflict between the forces of good and the forces
of evil, between life and death. Today we too find ourselves
in the midst of a dramatic conflict between the "culture
of death" and the "culture of life". But the
glory of the Cross is not overcome by this darkness; rather,
it shines forth ever more radiantly and brightly, and is revealed
as the centre, meaning and goal of all history and of every
human life.
Jesus is nailed to the Cross and is lifted up from the earth.
He experiences the moment of his greatest "powerlessness",
and his life seems completely delivered to the derision of
his adversaries and into the hands of his executioners: he
is mocked, jeered at, insulted (cf. Mk 15:24-36). And
yet, precisely amid all this, having seen him breathe his
last, the Roman centurion exclaims: "Truly this man was
the Son of God!" (Mk 15:39). It is thus, at the
moment of his greatest weakness, that the the Son of God is
revealed for who he is: on the Cross his glory is made
manifest.
By his death, Jesus sheds light on the meaning of the life
and death of every human being. Before he dies, Jesus prays
to the Father, asking forgiveness for his persecutors (cf.
Lk 23:34), and to the criminal who asks him to remember
him in his kingdom he replies: "Truly, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43).
After his death "the tombs also were opened, and many
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised"
(Mt 27:52). The salvation wrought by Jesus is the bestowal
of life and resurrection. Throughout his earthly life, Jesus
had indeed bestowed salvation by healing and doing good to
all (cf. Acts 10:38). But his miracles, healings and
even his raising of the dead were signs of another salvation,
a salvation which consists in the forgiveness of sins, that
is, in setting man free from his greatest sickness and in
raising him to the very life of God.
On the Cross, the miracle of the serpent lifted up by Moses
in the desert (Jn 3:14-15; cf. Num 21:8-9) is
renewed and brought to full and definitive perfection. Today
too, by looking upon the one who was pierced, every person
whose life is threatened encounters the sure hope of finding
freedom and redemption.
51. But there is yet another particular event which moves
me deeply when I consider it. "When Jesus had received
the vinegar, he said, 'It is finished'; and he bowed his head
and gave up his spirit" (Jn 19:30). Afterwards,
the Roman soldier "pierced his side with a spear, and
at once there came out blood and water" (Jn 19:34).
Everything has now reached its complete fulfilment. The "giving
up" of the spirit describes Jesus' death, a death like
that of every other human being, but it also seems to allude
to the "gift of the Spirit", by which Jesus ransoms
us from death and opens before us a new life.
It is the very life of God which is now shared with man.
It is the life which through the Sacraments of the Church
- symbolized by the blood and water flowing from Christ's
side - is continually given to God's children, making them
the people of the New Covenant. From the Cross, the source
of life, the "people of life" is born and increases.
The contemplation of the Cross thus brings us to the very
heart of all that has taken place. Jesus, who upon entering
into the world said: "I have come, O God, to do your
will" (cf. Heb 10:9), made himself obedient to
the Father in everything and, "having loved his own who
were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1),
giving himself completely for them.
He who had come "not to be served but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45),
attains on the Cross the heights of love: "Greater love
has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends" (Jn 15:13). And he died for us while
we were yet sinners (cf. Rom 5:8).
In this way Jesus proclaims that life finds its centre,
its meaning and its fulfilment when it is given up.
At this point our meditation becomes praise and thanksgiving,
and at the same time urges us to imitate Christ and follow
in his footsteps (cf. 1 Pt 2:21).
We too are called to give our lives for our brothers and
sisters, and thus to realize in the fullness of truth the
meaning and destiny of our existence.
We shall be able to do this because you, O Lord, have given
us the example and have bestowed on us the power of your Spirit.
We shall be able to do this if every day, with you and like
you, we are obedient to the Father and do his will.
Grant, therefore, that we may listen with open and generous
hearts to every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.
Thus we shall learn not only to obey the commandment not to
kill human life, but also to revere life, to love it and to
foster it.
Chapter 3 >> |
