St. Thomas More - Previous Reflections

You Were an Embryo Once

by Father Frank Pavone

The US bishops have issued a very clear statement on embryonic stem cell research. It does not dwell upon the scientific nuances of the issue, but rather assists the reader to focus on the moral issues involved. The statement is not marked by condemnation, but rather by explanation. It is not a rejection of research or of those who stand to benefit from research, but rather a call to pursue the well being of those very individuals by preserving the moral standards that protect their dignity and that of the rest of us.

The statement reminds us that there is great medical promise in therapy with “adult stem cells,” which “can be obtained without harm to the donor and without any ethical problem.”

On the other hand, if human lives are destroyed for what some argue is the greater good of curing disease, this argument undermines the dignity of the very people for whom it tries to advocate. “The same ethic that justifies taking some lives to help the patient with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease today can be used to sacrifice that very patient tomorrow, if his or her survival is viewed as disadvantaging other human beings.”

Addressing the doubt some have as to whether embryos really are human, the statement reminds us, “Just as each of us was once an adolescent, a child, a newborn infant, and a child in the womb, each of us was once an embryo.”

And for those who acknowledge the humanity of the embryo but not its claim to protection, the bishops warn, “If fundamental rights such as the right to life are based on abilities or qualities that can appear or disappear, grow or diminish, and be greater or lesser in different human beings, then there are no inherent human rights, no true human equality, only privileges for the strong.”

The bottom line is that human beings can never be considered a means to an end or a mere object of research. The moral boundary of human activity in every sphere can be summarized by saying that people are not things. Every human being is a human person, and a person is never a product. From pornography to abortion, from economic oppression to unjustified warfare, from the Holocaust to the destruction of embryos, the violation of the same principle can be seen. The only appropriate response to the human person is love.

The Church in no way opposes research or the progress of medical science. Indeed, this statement is an affirmation of that fact, because by reaffirming where the bright moral lines are that research must never cross, the Church encourages researchers to work harder to discover alternatives that provide the benefits we all seek while preserving the moral foundation that provides the rationale for seeking those benefits in the first place. And those alternatives are coming to light — a fact which can help even those who justify the destruction of embryos to realize that there is no reason to take that path.

(This update courtesy of the Priests for Life newsletter. You may contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; call 1-888-PFL-3448 or 718-980-4400; fax 718-980-6515; mail@priestsforlife.org; www.priestsforlife.org.)

Christian "Hatred"

This week's reflection is from Fr. Paul Scalia who is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, VA.

Christian "Hatred"
Are Christians allowed to hate? We know that our Lord commands us to love one another, and that we will be known by such love (cf. Jn 13:34-35). But consider how hateful St. Thomas Aquinas must have looked when he defied his parents and ran off to join the Dominicans. Beautiful St. Clare probably appeared ugly and cruel when she dashed her parents' hopes for her marriage and snuck off to follow St. Francis in poverty. And he himself, the "Little Poor Man" of Assisi, certainly seemed callous and unkind when he publicly renounced his father and inheritance. So if Christians are to love, how do we understand such seeming cruelty?

These saints, however hateful they may have appeared, were motivated by a love far deeper than that of those around them. It was not a lack of love, but an unwillingness to dilute that love that prompted their actions. They refused to put their love for God lower than, or even on equal footing with, their love for family or worldly comfort. They preferred nothing to the love of Christ. And for this it appeared as though they hated, and indeed they must have been made to feel as if they did. Their radical example provides the way to understand some of our Lord's most shocking words: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26).

Obviously, our Lord speaks figuratively here. A Christian may never deliberately hate someone. But when we choose to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, we will inevitably appear cruel and hateful to some. Our desire to love Him above all else puts us on a crash course with those who tempt us to divide our loyalty or compromise our devotion. They will (intentionally or not) make us feel as if we are being hateful toward our parents, spouses, siblings, children - even our very selves. Therefore, our Lord means that to follow Him we must be willing to appear hateful. In a word, we must prefer to endure division - even in our own families - than to divide our love for God.

And indeed our Lord's words have been fulfilled. Christians have been accused of hatred many times. The ancient world considered them "haters of humanity" because they refused to participate in pagan worship. Our culture levies the same accusation against us: that we hate. When the Church teaches strongly against abortion, the world spins it as hatred for women. When the Church proclaims the truth about marriage, the world accuses her of hating homosexuals. And so on. Further, each member of the Church encounters this as well. Increasingly, Catholics may be accused of hatred and be made to feel hateful by members of their own families, when out of fidelity to Christ they will not approve certain immoralities (divorce and remarriage, cohabitation, the homosexual lifestyle, etc.).

We should not think that Sts. Thomas, Clare and Francis easily and joyfully broke with their families. Doubtless, they did so with great sadness. For even when we understand our Lord's words properly, they should not sit easily in our hearts. Woe to us if we do find them easy. One writer imagines that when the apostles heard these words they were all stunned and scandalized - except Judas. He found no difficulty in them. He was more than ready to hate. His kind of heart can only distort our Lord's words. The only heart that gives them the proper reception is the one that loves family, friends and life itself - but loves God more than all these and is saddened that anyone would compete for His place.

In the end, the ancient world that accused Christians of hating humanity became Christian itself. Its conversion was due to the witness of love. "See how these Christians love one another," they would say. The world that began with accusations of Christian "hatred" ended with admiration of Christian love. So there is hope for us as well - both as the Church and members thereof - that our love will someday be made manifest even to those who accuse us of hate.

Fr. Scalia is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, VA.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

Previous Reflections

August 2007-That Man is You