What the Church says about Abortion 2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.[71] Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.[72] My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.[73] 2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.[74] God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.[75] 2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"[76] "by the very commission of the offense,"[77] and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.[78] The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. 2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."[79] "The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined.... As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."[80] 2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual.... It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."[81] 2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."[82] "It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."[83] "Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity"[84] which are unique and unrepeatable.           St. Justin   My favorite Saint is St. Justin.  Justin never ended his quest for religious truth even when he converted to Christianity after years of studying various pagan philosophies. As a young man, he was principally attracted to the school of Plato. However, he found that the Christian religion answered the great questions about life and existence better than the philosophers. Upon his conversion he continued to wear the philosopher's mantle, and became the first Christian philosopher. He combined the Christian religion with the best elements in Greek philosophy. In his view, philosophy was a pedagogue of Christ, an educator that was to lead one to Christ. Justin is known as an apologist, one who defends in writing the Christian religion against the attacks and misunderstandings of the pagans. Two of his so-called apologies have come down to us; they are addressed to the Roman emperor and to the Senate. For his staunch adherence to the Christian religion, Justin was beheaded in Rome in 165.  Comment: As patron of philosophers, Justin may inspire us to use our natural powers (especially our power to know and understand) in the service of Christ and to build up the Christian life within us. Since we are prone to error, especially in reference to the deep questions concerning life and existence, we should also be willing to correct and check our natural thinking in light of religious truth. Thus we will be able to say with the learned saints of the Church: I believe in order to understand, and I understand in order to believe. Quote: "Philosophy is the knowledge of that which exists, and a clear understanding of the truth; and happiness is the reward of such knowledge and understanding" (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 3). Uniformity With God's will "A single act of uniformity with the divine will suffices to make a saint. Behold while Saul  was persecuting the Church, God enlightened him and converted him.  What does Saul  do?  What does he say? Nothing else but to offer himself to do God's will: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6 In return the Lord calls him a vessel of election and an apostle of the gentiles: "This man is to me a vessel of election,  to carry my name before the gentiles." (Ibid) Absolutely true - because he who gives his will to God, gives Him everything. He who gives his goods in alms, his blood in scourging, his food in fasting, gives God what he has. But he who gives God his will, gives himself, gives everything he is. Such a one can say: "Though I am poor,  Lord, I give thee all I possess; but when I say I give thee my will, I have nothing left to give thee."  This is just what God does require of us: My son, give me thy heart." (Prov. 23:26)   St. Augustine's comment is: "There is nothing more pleasing we can offer God than to say to Him; Possess thyself of us" (St. Augustine on Ps 131:3)  We cannot offer God anything more pleasing than to say: Take us,  Lord, we give thee our entire will.  Only let us know thy will and we will carry it out. If we would completely rejoice the heart of God, let us strive in all things to conform ourselves to His divine will.  Let us not only strive to conform ourselves, but also to unite ourselves to whatever dispositions God makes of us. Conformity signifies that we join our wills to the will of God. Uniformity means more - it means that we make one will of God's will and ours, so that we will only what God wills; that God's will alone, is our will.  This is the summit of perfection and to it we should always aspire; this should be the goal of all our works, desires, meditations and prayers.  To this end we should always invoke the aid of our holy patrons, our guardian angels, and above all,  of our mother Mary,  the most perfect of all the saints because she most perfectly embraced the divine will.    Remarks by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori   JESUS DEITY..."In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth."....(St. John 1: 1,14)... Meditation is the Key According to the Catholic Almanac, meditation is defined as, "Mental, as distinguished from vocal, prayer, in which thought, affections, and resolutions of the will predominate.  There is a meditative element to all forms of prayer, which always involves the raising of the heart and mind to God."  That's a very good definition.   The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith takes this a bit further.  They released a letter called, "Some aspects of Christian meditation", on December 14, 1989 to bishops throughout the world.  This letter deals with questions concerning Christian and non Christian forms of meditation.   It  describes some of the problems which arise when a person employs certain techniques of meditation borrowed from others and makes the point that, "Some physical exercises (in Eastern practice, for example) produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing sensations, perhaps even phenomena of light and of warmth, which resemble spiritual well being.  To take such feelings for the authentic consolation of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the spiritual life.  Giving them a symbolic significance typical of the mystical experience, when the moral condition of the persons concerned does not correspond to such an experience, would represent a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at time, to moral deviations."   It concluded the following; " From the rich variety of Christian prayer as proposed by the Church, each member of the faithful should seek and find his own way, his own form of prayer.  But all of these personal ways, in the end, flow into the way to the Father, which is how Jesus Christ has described Himself.  In search for his own way, each person will, therefore, let himself be led not so much by his personal tastes as by the Holy Spirit, who guides him through Christ to the Father.   The love of God, the sole object of Christian contemplation, is a reality which cannot be "mastered" by any method or technique.  On the contrary, we must always have our sights fixed on Jesus Christ, in whom God's love went to the cross for us and there He assumed even the condition of estrangement from the Father.  We therefore should allow God to decide the way He wishes to have us participate in His love.  But we can never, in any way, seek to place ourselves on the same level as the object of our contemplation, the free love of God; not even when through the mercy of God the Father and the Holy Spirit sent into our hearts, we receive in Christ the gracious gift of a sensible reflection of that divine love and we feel drawn by the truth and beauty and goodness of the Lord."   Meditation is indeed the key to a deeper understanding of the faith but it is by God's good pleasure that determines the way we are blessed by it. What is a Witness? From Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., author of The Seven Sacraments  "Confirmation has a direct bearing on the lay apostolate. The first effect of this sacrament is to impress on the soul a character, which is a participation in the priesthood of Christ. The character of Baptism is also a participation in Our Lord's priesthood, but its chief purpose is to depute one to the sacred function of receiving the other sacraments. The character of Confirmation destines the recipient to a more active share in the ministry- a share analogous to that possessed by those who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders. This is the task of explaining and defending the Catholic religion. This same task was assigned to the Apostles by Christ just before His Ascension, and He promised to send the Holy Spirit to aid them in its fulfillment: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you , and you shall be witnesses for me..." (Acts 1:8). And since Confirmation is intended to extend to all Catholics the effects of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, even the lay member of the Church who has been confirmed is deputed to be a witness to Christ, to share in the priestly ministry of preaching and upholding His doctrines.   Similarly, the special graces of Confirmation fit the recipient for lay apostolate. For, to proclaim and to defend Catholicism in a world that is blind to divine truth and hostile to the things of the spirit on particularly needs supernatural light and strength and these are the chief graces of Confirmation, abundantly bestowed through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. With the aid of these gifts the lay person anxious to participate in lay apostolate will find themselves marvelously enlightened and strengthened in the doubts and difficulties that will surely befall anyone who strives to promote the cause of Christ in an unbelieving world. In them will be repeated in a measure the wondrous effects produced in the Apostles by the advent of the Holy Spirit, of which the Scripture says: "With great power did the Apostles give testimony of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Our Lord; and great grace was in them all." (Acts 4:33)" Now that you have a fair idea of what a Lay Witness is let me introduce myself. My name is Art Steven, a baptized and confirmed Catholic and therefore deputed to be a witness to Jesus Christ, to share in the priestly ministry of proclaiming and upholding His doctrines.  This web site is my cyberspace Witness to the Faith !   For those who want more experience, I've been a lector for over 30 years, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist and a CCD instructor.   Authoring this Web Page is my gift to you so we can    celebrate God's gift of Life together .   This Web Site  journey of Faith began on August 18, 2000   "Sing joyfully to God our strength; acclaim the God of Jacob." (Ps 81:1)     Click "Email Us"to send a prayer request or an E-mail Jesus, the bread of life Lord our God, in every time and place You nourish us with living bread come down from heaven. In the fullness of time, Your eternal Word took on human flesh. As bread broken and cup poured out, He gave His life for our salvation. As we celebrate the jubilee of Christ's birth, renew among us His glorious, Risen presence as Word and Bread of Life. By our reverence for Christ's presence in the Eucharist and in every person, make us worthy to take our place at the eternal banquet You have prepared, where You live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. LET US PRAY   O my Divine Savior, Transform me into Yourself. May my hands be the hands of Jesus. Grant that every faculty of my body May serve only to glorify You.   Above all, Transform my soul and all its powers So that my memory, will and affection May be the memory, will and affections Of Jesus.    I pray You To destroy in me all that is not of You. Grant that I may live but in You, by You and for You,   So that I may truly say, with St. Paul, "I live - now not I - But Christ lives in me. -St. John Gabriel Our Links: Fr. Frank Pavone's  Original introduction of   Priests for Life.   Read what Mother Teresa said about Life, Click Here    For the Witness Catholic Link page Click Here For the Witness Australian Anglicans to become Catholic Click Here Additional Links Archdiocese of Detroit American Catholic Once Catholic Daily Prayer