It would be difficult to come to Mary’s Shrine at Knock
these days and not reflect on the sacredness and dignity of human life, this
place which honours Mary, the woman who carried and gave birth to Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Since its beginnings Christianity has maintained a clear and
firm teaching on the sacredness of human life. Abortion was rejected in the
earliest known Christian document, the Didache.
Official church teaching insists to the present day that a
just society protects life, before as well as after birth. The reasons for this
are not difficult to understand.
One church document puts it like this, “The first right of
the human person is his/her life......it does not belong to society, nor does
it belong to public authority in any form to recognise this right for some and
not for others......respect for human life is called for from the time that the
process of generation begins.” (Declar. on Procured Abortion, CDF, 1974.)
Dr John Murray spells out graphically and in non-technical
language what abortion means, “It robs that human being of all the rest of her
life, of all her potential relationships, achievements, actions and
experiences.
It robs the unborn of their freedom to choose anything any
time.....it robs the human person of all rights, not just the right to life;
none of us has any rights if we are dead!”
Christian teaching obliges us to follow in the footsteps of
Jesus Christ, who spoke and acted strongly and compassionately in favour of the
most despised and vulnerable persons in society.
Our society today has many vulnerable
persons.......including women in crisis pregnancies as well as unborn children
whose lives may be legally ended in many places during pregnancy.
In the tradition of Jesus Christ Catholics have a
responsibility to speak and act in defence of these persons. The Church’s
mission to defend human life applies over the entire spectrum of human life,
from conception to natural death.
For full homily go to: Diocese of Ferns - Bishop Denis Brennan Homily at Ferns Annual Diocesan Pilgrimage
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