Reflections - October 2008

Respect Life Month: Catholics Stand for all Human Life

by Bro. James Zakowicz, O.C.D.

October is Respect Life Month. Although abortion stands out as the most heinous of crimes against life, we Catholics stand up for all human life from the cradle to the grave.

The prophet Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones in the plain is an appropriate image of the current landscape of the culture of death (Ch. 37). Unfortunately, more bones are added to the heap every day. The scourges of abortion, euthanasia and everything in between are emblematic of the isintegration of society. In Israel, from ancient times until today, it is important to bury a corpse with all of its parts. The human body, given as a gift by God, must remain intact, even in death.

Yahweh's message through Ezekiel was that the people of Israel were not intact spiritually but dead because they had abandoned their creator and one another.

"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off from our parts' (Ezek. 37:11)"

But God would not leave Israel without hope; the next image is reminiscent of his creation of the first man and woman.

"And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh."

Our sure hope is that God, who created life, will not forsake us even if we abandon the most vulnerable among us. God who created life is fully capable of restoring it to those who have died, even those who have been torn limb from limb. Mother Theresa said: "Don't let anything take away the joy of the Resurrection." Our faith in the risen Christ leads us to hope that God is in charge of life in all its stages, including and especially eternal life. St. Paul reminds us that, "…creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." (Rom. 8:19-21).

We were not created for the slavery to sin that leads to death but for the freedom that comes from life in God. Despite the disintegration of our society at the most basic levels of individual and family life, the fact of the Resurrection serves to animate our spirits. God's message through Ezekiel must keep our hope alive: 

"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

Would that we Knights of Columbus who struggle under the banner of the risen Christ might succeed against the enemies of life. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the source of all life, let us prophecy to the world of the creative and restorative power of God and may we soon see flesh upon the dry bones of our brothers and sisters who have gone before us.