The Real Importance of the Pro-Life Mission
Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, beloved founder of Human Life International, passed away one year ago on March 20. As we approach the first anniversary of his passing, let us take the opportunity to remember a key element of his approach to his, and our, ongoing pro-life mission.
It is crucial that we save lives, but there is something that is more important still: We must save souls through teaching the Faith in its fullness and integrity. In modern times, when people's ability to recognize and adhere to the unchanging truths of natural law is eroding, and when the faith is often presented in such a watered down manner by some members of the Church, we must proclaim the integrity of the constant teachings of the Church on life and family. We must preserve a fundamental part of the Catholic doctrine for our fellow man and future generations. Regrettably, in too few places do we hear comprehensive teaching on these important questions.
This is why a fundamental part of the mission of HLI is to assist in the formation of seminarians and young priests so that they have both knowledge of those truths, and a strong commitment with the help of grace to proclaim those truths in season and out of season.
But these teachings cannot stand alone, which is why Fr. Marx insisted that we defend and proclaim the totality of the Faith even if our particular calling is to teach on life and family. After all, how can we speak of gift of life if we ignore the Creator? How can we be grateful for this gift if we ignore the purpose for which life is given to us, which is to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven with Our Lady, the angels, the saints and all the saved? A life like that has to be lived for a time in this world, in such a way that we would be able to gain, by His grace, entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The most reasonable concern that a man should have is on the salvation of his own soul. How can we be concerned with the salvation of others if first we are not concerned with our own salvation? How can we give to others something that we do not have ourselves? Such questions lead us to meditate on the Law of God, and on all the moral teachings of the Church. When we teach on the gift of life and the reasons for the existence of this great gift, we also necessarily consider the teachings of the Church on the four last things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. A serious Catholic might be reasonably concerned that these teachings are only rarely mentioned in homilies. Meditating on the four last things leads us to examine our lives and consider in some way the individual judgment that all of us will have to endure. Examining one's life always leads to a deeper conversion, because practically no one will reach the conclusion after an honest look at his life that he is doing everything that he ought to be doing in accordance with the will of the Lord.
When we present marriage as a sacrament, we must also be able to the present the wholeness of the doctrine on the sacraments and of the general dispensation of grace. When we speak about the importance of prayers in family life, we must also discuss the necessity of daily, and even, I would say, constant prayer.
How can we encourage families to be generous with life if we do not preach at the same the most basic Catholic doctrines on how society should be organized? How can we encourage families to have more children if the world in which we live seems dominated more by the prince of this world than by the loving rule of the King of Kings?
A more integrated approach helps us to put to rest the false opposition between the pro-life movement and those who are honestly dedicated to promoting the social teachings of the Church. We not only defend the life of the child in the womb, but after his birth we are committed that he should have all his rights protected and his dignity duly assured by his parents first and then by society, with due respect to subsidiarity. How can a promoter of the social teachings of the Church honestly state that he is defending the rights of the poorest of the poor if he is not concerned with the right to life of the child in the womb?
If we speak on the duty of families to educate their children in the faith, a family must first have freedom of religion and conscience, and political society must guarantee these freedoms. These freedoms, these rights, of the parents should be carefully safeguarded. Clearly, the teachings on life and family and the social doctrine of the Church are not opposed, but are indeed complementary.
Notice the very important fact that when the teachings of the Church on life and family are proclaimed in their integrity, this necessarily leads to the presentation of all the other elements of the message of salvation. So this gives us the well-founded hope that in the not-too-distant future all the fundamental doctrines of the Church will be also proclaimed in their integrity. As we have seen, all the teachings of the Church are intimately and logically connected.
So let us pray that, following the example of our founder, Fr. Marx, the defense of life and family would lead toward the proclamation of the fullness of the faith as the only path that Christ has given us towards salvation.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula
Interim President, Human Life International
LifeLines Episode 4: Why Women Abort
The pro-aborts' own research shows that they are lying when they say that women must have unrestricted access to abortion because of the "hard cases." In truth, the hard cases make up only a tiny percentage of all abortions, and even in these hard cases, one human person is killed, and another is harmed for life.
See the video here...
