I was recently asked by a reader to find some good Bible passages that are 'pro-life'. Paging through the Gospels and a few other books, I found many of the verses I've highlighted have a very pro-life slant. In fact, I soon realized that there are pro-life undertones running throughout the Bible! I guess it is true that 'God is Pro-Life'.
In reading the Bible, we must always realize that reading it, along with respecting the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, is one of the best ways we can come to know Jesus. The Bible was compiled by the early Catholic Church, and it is hard to understand certain passages without the Church's teaching authority (this is one of the reasons Jesus established the Catholic Church!).
Well, anyways, I thought I'd just show you some of my favorites:
Genesis 1:27-28: God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and femail he created them. God blessed them, saying to them: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.'
My Commentary: Man is created in God's image. Man's life, therefore, is sacred. To destroy Man is to destroy something sacred. God frowns on this. Plus, God blessed Man with the gift of fertility, so we could subdue the whole earth! 'Population control' policies are surely opposed to the will of God on this one...
Exodus 20:13: You shall not kill.
My Commentary: This is the most simple, yet the most intriguing commandments. For, if we are to take this literally, we are obliged to never kill anyone or anything. But the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." (p. 2258). From 2258-2330, the Catechism oulines more teaching concerning the fifth commandment - it's worth a look.
Matthew 18:6: Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
My Commentary: After reading this passage, it is obvious that Jesus has a deep love for everyone, especially the 'littlest ones' -- i.e. children. Whoever causes one of these children to sin would be better off drowning in the sea! How much worse would the sin of killing one of these children be??? We must hope that people are not misinformed to think that the fetus inside a mother's womb is not a living human being -- one of God's children!
John 13:35: I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
My Commentary: Jesus told us to love one another. What love involves taking a life? People sometimes misguidedly think that euthenasia is 'mercy' killing, but it is not. Abortion is not a loving act - it is a wrongful act. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "One may never do evil so that good may result from it," (1789), meaning one cannot do sinful acts in order to acheive a perceived good. Concerning Euthenasia, "Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable" (2277). If we do not have love for one another, we are not Christians.
Final Comment: While reading through different parts of the Bible, I am amazed, time and again, at how every passage can have great meaning, especially when you take time to reflect on the passages (using footnotes in my Fireside Study Edition of the New American Bible helps me tremendously!). If you aren't already, I encourage you to pick up your Bible and read it from time to time - start with the Gospels and New Testament, then work your way around the Old Testament.
After visiting home yesterday, I noticed a few newspaper articles my mother had clipped out for me. One caught my attention, because it had a huge picture of Archbishop Burke staring straight at me! The article, written by Tim Townsend and titled "The Man Behind the Headlines", was actually quite interesting, and didn't once take a potshot at the Archbishop. The article stuck to facts, and added some interesting quotes from the Archbishop and some people who he works with.
I was especially glad to read one section, in which the Archbishop mentions Kenrick-Glennon Seminary:
"[Archbishop Burke] thinks attracting young men to the priesthood is crucial for the health of the church and has an aggressive strategy to bring more of them to Kenrick-Glennon seminary. Burke spends a lot of time at Kenrick-Glennon, meeting with seminarians there weekly, going on long walks with them, trying to get to know them and hoping they come to know him.
"It's a good time to visit," he said. "I really have to say that one of the most hopeful signs of life of the Church in the archdiocese is our seminarians. We really have an exceptional group of young men who are studying for the priesthood."
The Archbishop, time and again, reminds us of the importance of strong and correct formation of future priests. He concentrates many resources and much effort into ensuring the best possible priestly formation. I am very glad we have an Archbishop who has looked at the past, seen the good and the bad, and is now devoted to bringing about necessary and important changes in our Archdiocese. He is not only a very compassionate and kind man, but he also does what is necessary to maintain a vibrant and resounding Archdiocese.
In summary, I am glad to have an outstanding Archbishop who truly cares for his flock, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a non-anti-Burke article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Let us pray that Archbishop Burke may continue to be a courageous and loving pastor, and for his continued health and safety!
I have found a heck of a deal for finally creating a domain name for my websites. What's a 'domain name', you wonder? Well, it's kinda like this: instead of the address for my blog being "homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/blahblahblah, etc.", I could have my own "www.website.com" web address! I have been tossing around this idea for a few years, but have never seen a good deal for pricing (it used to cost around $75a year for a domain name, but now it's much less!).
So, there you have it: I'm thinking about registering a web address for my websites (my blog, personal site, seminary site, pro-life wristband site, jjjcl latin site, and my Mac support site). I want it to be relatively short, easy to remember, and encompass some of my personality, while being fairly broad (so it can cover topics on all those sites).
So far, all I have is 'www.byyourwords.com' (ref. to Matthew 12:37...), but that's not very good. It has to be a web address not already in use, and I want a '.com' address (not '.net' or '.us' or something like that).
To enter:
Look up prospective web addresses by typing them into the search area on this page.
Make sure the name is creative, relatively short, and easy to remember.
Post the name, along with your name, in the comments section of this post.
Wait until I find a winner.
So, now what? What does the winner get? Well, as my high-school volleyball coach would say, "You get the greatest prize of all: our respect." Okay, okay, I'll also mention the winner on my blog... if that counts for anything. I know what you're thinking... "What a boring contest!" But remember, I'm just a poor little college student ;-) .
