As Christians, we hold that every human life is unique and cherished by God, and that all human life is to be valued and respected from conception until natural death. The elections last week showed once again the importance of life issues and in particular those related to the preborn. Our witness in Respect Life Month was a powerful reminder of what is at stake. Our witness reminds the world that the beauty and dignity of human life is not dependent on what someone can do for me, or on the quality of life I choose to bestow on that person. Rather, it is rooted our intrinsic worth as men and women uniquely made in the image and likeness of God.
As this election cycle ends, we go forward knowing that this witness to life is not focused on a day, a week or even a month. It is part of the air we breathe and every day is a new opportunity to serve the dignity of the human person as a pro-life missionary.
Too often, social media repeats the falsehood that our work for life doesn’t go beyond the preborn. We can counter this by highlighting the Church’s teaching on our care for our neighbor at whatever critical juncture they face in their journey of life.
We have another opportunity this month to witness to the intrinsic worth of every person. November is National Hospice and Palliative Care month and Bishop Earl Fernandes has asked that we spotlight this important area of ministry. November gives us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate that our care and concern extends to all stages of life, including those who are facing a terminal diagnosis and nearing the end of life.
In 2020, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the letter Samaritanus Bonus on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. The note reminds us that the antidote for all attacks on life is not to attack back but to witness in action and to do so sacrificially. “Rather than condemning those looking to hasten death, the Christian must offer to the sick the help they need to shake off their despair.”
Samaritanus Bonus provides the beautiful example of the Good Samaritan who goes out of his way to help the injured Samaritan and demonstrates Christ’s sacrificial love in action, meeting the stranger in his need. He does not see the man as a burden or an inconvenience or as someone who is unclean as others do, but rather a person to be loved, valued and healed. The parable reminds us of our responsibility to do the same when we encounter people who face sickness, disease and end of life care. The person in front of us must always know that they are loved and cherished by God’s family as much as they are by God. They must receive from us the sort of solidarity and love that reaches beyond the expectations of this world and into the life that is to come.
Many of us wonder how we are to do this. Thankfully, there are resources available that can help all of us deepen our awareness of the Church’s teaching, and guide us as we face difficult moral scenarios. They highlight the importance of a Catholic presence in medicine, the often complex issues that we face as technology and expectations advance and the care we owe to our loved ones and neighbors.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has produced a special edition of Word of Life as a toolkit with these resources. This is available to everyone at the following link: PCH 2024 BOW parish-kit-wol-special-edition (1).pdf (usccb.org)
I encourage you to review what is available online and continue your efforts for life in November by highlighting the importance of care for one’s neighbor as the end of human life draws near. Samaritanus Bonus concludes with the following exhortation:
“The Good Samaritan, who puts the face of his brother in difficulty at the center of his heart, offers him whatever is required to repair his wound of desolation and to open his heart to the luminous beams of hope. Healed by Jesus, we become men and women called to proclaim his healing power and provide care for our neighbors. The vocation to the love and care of another brings with it the rewards of eternity as made explicit by the Lord in the parable of the final judgment: inherit the kingdom, for I was sick and you visited me. When did we do this, Lord? Every time you did it for the least ones, for a suffering brother or sister, you did it for me (cf. Mt 25: 31-46).”
Father Bob Penhallurick is the director of the diocesan Respect Life Office and the pastor at Columbus St. Catharine of Siena Church.