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In 1968 our late Holy Father, Pope
Paul VI, warned in his encyclical
letter Humanae Vitae (which
stated that artificial contraception
is incompatible with authentic
Christian marriage) that the
“contraceptive mentality” would lead
to many other devaluations of the
dignity of redeemed human life. How
prophetic he was! Since then, we
have seen the ongoing (hopefully
reversible) triumph of the “culture
of death,” as Pope John Paul II
described our current era.
In our day, abortion has become
commonplace. Indeed, infanticide is
not unknown. Euthanasia is
increasing in occurrence, and some
forms of illicit stem-cell research
are being legitimized in public
discourse and in scientific
practice. In addition, just in the
last few years, we have seen laws
redefine marriage and family into
entities we cannot recognize.
What is most sad in all of these
developments is that a form of
scandal has occurred, most
egregiously among Catholics and
other followers of Christ, who above
all should know better. When I speak
of “scandal,” I do not mean what the
world means by the term “scandal.”
The world uses the term “scandal” to
describe a shocking matter about
which people become upset and
unfortunately sometimes gossip. I am
not referring to that usage of the
word “scandal” at all.
To Catholics, a “scandal” is
something which causes our faith to
be diminished. Often it takes the
form of disillusionment which
happens when we discover that
someone, whose authentic Catholic
faith and witness we have long
admired, is a hypocrite or living a
double life. Suddenly, we begin to
question the good things which that
person and others have taught us.
Instead of good example, there is
now bad example, with the consequent
loss of our faith in part or in its
entirety.
From time to time, I hear good
Catholics say they understand that
contraception, abortion,
infanticide, euthanasia, certain
forms of scientific research, and
the new false but legal definitions
of family and marriage are all an
affront to God and sinful. But then
these otherwise good Catholics say:
“But what can we do? That’s the law.
That’s the way things are. There’s
nothing we can bring about to change
matters.” This sort of talk is not
an assessment of reality. It is a
statement of fear and surrender.
Where would we be as Catholics today
if our forebears in the faith had
been so timid?
There are indeed things that we can
do. First of all, we must respond to
the Church’s insistence that there
be absolute coherence between the
faith we profess and the life we
lead. Otherwise, sorry to say, we
are indeed hypocrites. In our
lukewarm attitude, we will lead
people to become comfortable with a
timid witness to our faith, and
thereby cause scandal.
To have this coherence in our lives,
we need to remain fervent in our
participation in the Holy Eucharist
and the Sacrament of Penance. We
should extend our sacramental lives
into our daily living by prayer and
the examination of conscience. We
must say the “Our Father”
authentically, especially when we
pray “Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven.” The coherence
between our faith and daily life has
to be brought to bear on the “public
square,” which is the daily business
of life in our civil society.
Would the “culture of death” have
marched along so successfully thus
far in the United States if we
Catholics had remained one and firm
in our opposition? Would our
American society opt so frequently
for the convenient dispatching of
inconvenient human persons if we
loved one another as Jesus demands?
Would we have so many Catholic
politicians in the forefront of
promoting the “culture of death,” if
we had demanded greater coherence
between the Catholic faith about
which they boast so loudly and the
scurrilous voting record which they
have accrued.
In 1973, it was generally
non-Catholics who fostered the
legalization of abortion. Today, as
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago
recently noted, the leading figures
promoting the “culture of death” in
government and in civil society are
Catholics. They can get away with
excuses like “I am personally
opposed to abortion, but I can’t
impose my Catholic faith on others…”
because we let them say and do such
things. Shame on us. Shame on them.
As we celebrate Respect Life Sunday
in our Diocese on October 7, let us
all engage in a profound and honest
examination of conscience. Why has
the “culture of death” triumphed so
much in our midst? What am I doing
about it? Instead of expecting
“others” or some abstract
ecclesiastical authorities to do all
the pro-life work, what am I doing
to promote the “culture of life and
the civilization of love,” which
Pope John Paul has described as the
only antidote to the culture of
death?
Is my own daily life fully in
conformity with my faith and the
Church’s liberating teachings? If
not, what concrete steps will I take
to correct it? If my Catholic life
is what it should be, in what form
of specific witness will I engage to
bring others to the same vital
practice of the faith? How can I
live the “civilization of love”
right here and now, and not in some
far off place?
May Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who
helped us to “have life and in
abundance” through her divine Son,
guide us to be honest with
ourselves, open to authentic
conversion, and steeped in the
future in concrete acts of love and
life.
Please pray for me that I, above
all, will do the Lord’s bidding and
lead the clergy and people into a
diocesan-wide, eleven-county
“culture of life and civilization of
love.”
Sincerely in Our Lord,
Most Rev. Joseph F. Martino, D.D.,
Hist. E.D.
Bishop of Scranton
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