Holy Rosary Cathedral 29 November 2014

Advent 1-B

Pro-Life Mass

Holy Rosary Cathedral 29 November 2014

Dear brother priests and dear friends in Christ of pro-life in the Archdiocese of Vancouver:

Introduction

In this evening’s Eucharist we are praying in a special way that reverence for life will grow and increasingly be realized in concrete ways in our city, province and nation. We are celebrating the sacred dignity of every human life from the first moment of existence at conception to its natural end. “Concern for human life in its totality has become in recent years a real priority for the Church’s Magisterium, especially for the most defenseless; i.e., the disabled, the sick, the newborn, children, the elderly, those whose lives are most defenseless.”[1]

This evening we are praying in thanksgiving for the graces you have received to stand up for life in so many different ways: from the 40 Days of Life, to helping mothers deal with a crisis pregnancy, to lobbying governments to protect human life, to educating our fellow citizens about the moral and social harm to society already caused by abortion and that would be caused by the legalization of assisted suicide. We are also praying in supplication: that as committed individuals and as an Archdiocese we may become more effective messengers of hope and agents of accompaniment to those whose dignity is threatened. We are praying, too, for a deepening in us of the virtues of courage and compassion: that we may increasingly see the inextricable relationship between the Gospel of life and the Gospel of mercy, both of which we are called to foster and live.

For all these reasons, then, I would like to make my own the words of St. Paul in tonight’s Second Reading: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him” (1 Cor 1:4-5).

Advent

Advent is a season of accompaniment and journeying. Together with Mary, we journey to Bethlehem for the Birth of our Saviour. But it is also a season which recalls that we are journeying to the end of time, to the day of judgment, to that unknown hour “when the master of the house will come” (Mk 13:35) at the close of history as our righteous judge (cf. Jer 33:16). For this coming, as today’s Gospel forcefully teaches, we must “beware” and “on alert” “for [we] you do not know when the time will come” (Mk 13:33).

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In this time of waiting for the fulfillment of history, for the coming of the Judge who will return at the end of time, we are called to live as his disciples, in this, our beautiful yet often sad and tragic world, in accordance with the truth of the Gospel which he has taught us.

Abortion and Assisted Suicide

And among the greatest truths we have received from the Lord is that “we are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.”[2] “In fact, in the light of faith and right reason, human life is always sacred and always has ‘quality.’ And there is no human life that is more sacred than another: every human life is sacred!”[3]

Pope Francis, in calling us to take care of the marginalized in society, has pointed out in his Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” that

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among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be.[4]

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I would now like to say a word about a truly distressing situation in our country that faces all of us who are striving to foster the culture of life. I am referring to the very real possibility that the Supreme Court of Canada will rule that physician assisted suicide be recognized as a constitutional right in our nation. Even more troubling – if the polls and opinion columns in our newspapers are to be believed – is the widespread support for this radical change in public policy. After years of tilling the soil of popular opinion, the promoters of assisted suicide might well succeed in their legislative agenda.

In one form or another the fundamental argument proposed by those in favour of physician assisted suicide boils down to this. They claim the “right to die” when illness seems to make life too heavy a burden. This strikes at the very heart of the purpose of existence and the purpose of suffering. As believers, we find the answer to these questions in the Gospel.

How, then, are we as Catholics, as proclaimers of the “joy of the Gospel” to respond to this challenge?

First, of course, we must get straight what we believe about this grave moral evil. Allow me to cite the unequivocal teaching expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia – and that’s what physician assisted suicide is – consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick or dying persons – even, I might add, if this is done to one self. It is morally unacceptable. . . [and] gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect of the living God, his Creator (No. 2277).

To cause death to a sick person is not to care for him. A lethal injection is not a treatment. Euthanasia is never a form of care.

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Instead, what we offer is accompaniment to those who find themselves in tragic situations of illness or who are dying. Genuine aid to the dying means helping someone who has come to the end of life to live this final step with the dignity proper to a child of God. It means offering every possible support, using the best means available to alleviate suffering, surrounding the person with affection and tenderness and helping him or her to seek reconciliation, to take stock of their life and to offer the spiritual comfort of faith and of hope eternal life.[5]

Palliative Care

A society’s attitude towards its most vulnerable members is a sign of its level of civilization. If we do not want a country where some citizens are licensed to kill others – the most vulnerable; the sick, the suffering, those whom society often calls the “burdensome” – then we must take steps to stop that from happening: by our lobbying, by our prayer and by supporting the availability of palliative care.

Palliative care is focussed on the overall well-being of the sick person and his or her family. It ensures quality support to meet the needs of those at the end of life. Palliative care seeks to alleviate suffering, while neither hastening nor postponing natural death.

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In order to respond to the physical, emotional and moral sufferings of people of all ages, particularly those seriously ill or handicapped, including those in a terminal phase, we must, I believe, call on Canadians, including our elected representatives, instead to promote palliative and end-of-life care. Our legal system should be inspired by a culture of life in which each person feels responsible for the wellbeing of others until their natural death.

May I quote from St. John Paul II, a heroic figure who died before us step by step, reminding the world that life always retains its dignity even when frail and failing:

The Church knows that the moment of death is always accompanied by particularly intense human sentiments: an earthly life is ending; the emotional, generational and social ties that are part of the person’s inner self are dissolving; people who are dying and those who assist them are aware of the conflict between hope in immortality and the unknown which troubles even the most enlightened minds. The Church raises her voice so that the dying are not offended but are given every loving care and are not left alone as they prepare to cross the threshold of time to enter eternity.[6]

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This we can do by reinforcing every effort undertaken in the Catholic community and elsewhere to foster making available palliative care ever more widely.

Conclusion

We are now about to approach the Lord’s altar of sacrifice and there place our own labours and life, our prayers and sorrows, our joys and anxieties there with the gifts of bread and wine. In the Eucharistic Prayer they are lifted up and transformed into Christ’s Body and Blood, nourishment for all of us pilgrims on the way to the final glory of the Kingdom of God. May the guiding and protecting love of the Virgin of Guadalupe accompany us on our journey this Advent and always!

 J. Michael Miller, CSB

Archbishop of Vancouver

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[1] Francis, Address to the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (20 September 2013).

[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2280.

[3] Francis, Address to the Italian Catholic Physicians’ Association (20 November 2014).

[4] Francis, EvangeliiGaudium, 213.

[5] Cf. Assembly of the Quebec Bishops, Statement (January 2014).

[6] St. John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy for Life (27 February 1999).