ENCYCLICAL LETTER EVANGELIUM VITAE
Second Part
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
fulfillment.
"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
fulfillment
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 fulfillment
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 splendor 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
fulfillment 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 honor" (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 marvelous 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
fulfillment 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 splendor 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 neighbor as for ourselves: "You shall love
your neighbor 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
neighbor, 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 imprisoned ... 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 defense 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 specific
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 uncleanness, 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 travail 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 fulfillment (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 fulfillment. 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 fulfillment 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.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
