“Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate.” ~ Albert Einstein
Some might say that I have to say that all life is sacred because I am a Roman Catholic priest and that is, as they say, the party line. Well, okay. I will give you that. If that is what you want to believe, go ahead.
It is true that the Catholic Church teaches that all life is sacred and needs to be cherished, nurtured, and protected. However, I say that all life is sacred not only because that is what the Church teaches. I have seen it with my own two eyes.
As an orderly years before my ordination, I worked in many areas of the hospital, including labor and delivery and the nursery. From the very beginning, one could see that life was very special. And, from the very beginning, I saw that medical professionals sometimes got it wrong.
Some parents were told that their babies were going to be born with grave deficits and told that they had the option for abortion. The parents chose to carry the baby to term only to discover that the tests had been wrong and their baby was absolutely perfect.
I have witnessed people being told that their loved one would not survive an accident, a stroke, or a heart attack. Sometimes, after days or weeks in a coma, the patient would come around intact and whole. Days or weeks after coming out of their comas, they were walking out of the hospital and going home.
I have heard many say that some people should be executed for their crimes. Yet, when given time in prison to reflect upon their deeds, they actually discovered and embraced God and changed their lives for the better. They remained in prison but became examples to other offenders about the absolute love of God.
We are not the authors of life. God is. We should not take decisions about life into our own hands. Those decisions belong to God who created us in His own image and likeness and who, one day, will call us back to Himself for judgment and, hopefully, eternal life.
I have experienced the beauty of life in all its facets and hope that you have, too. May you be able to proclaim with me that all life is sacred. Cherish it. Protect it. Defend it.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for an end to all crimes against life.