Fr. C. Vaillancourt
[Genesis 2:7] And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
The greatest expression of God is life, God calls Himself " I am who I am " in other words God claims by His holy name that He exists. Jesus says I am the Life [John 14:6].
In His goodness God has created a world in which man has been placed on top of all creation by being made in His image [Genesis 1:26] and by having dominion over all creatures.
God created the first woman as a companion and helper of Adam the first man [Genesis 2:18], He decreed that a man will leave his father and mother, cling to his wife and the two will become one flesh. Out of this union comes the fruit of their love which is their children as an expression of their love for each other and as the response to God's command "be fruitful and multiply" [Genesis 1:28]
It is by the grace of God that the gift of procreation has been given to a man and a woman with the objective of glorifying God by having children begotten in His image who will also glorify Him.The last part of creation was the creation of human beings which reflect the perfections of their maker. God is the true author of life, and even though we cooperate in the proliferation of life by the union of man and woman, life depends entirely upon the holy will of God. [Job 12:9-10] 9 Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things? 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man.
Adam and Eve were created in a estate of perfection, innocence, purity and immortality which unfortunately did not last very long due to sin. They did not obey the command of the Lord which resulted in death, the opposite of life.
Death came into the world as a consequence of disobedience with the curse of God: "You are dust and you shall return to dust" [Genesis 3:19], by this this command Adam and Eve as parents and all the human race were stripped of their perfection and immortality.
The first casualty of death was Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was killed by Cain who was filled with envy for his brother, and out of hatred took his life.
God is the author of life; in contrast the devil is the author of death because by tempting men to sin, he was a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44]. This opens the way for the imitators of the evil one who are ready to kill or to violate God's commandments.We have been given free will to accept the Law of God or to defy it by sin.
God has written his law in our hearts so that we can always know what is good and what is wrong, through our conscience we come first to appreciate that life is sacred. The Lord revealed the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. They are the rules by which we are to prove our love to God and to our neighbour. The Fifth commandment states "You shall not kill ". [Exodus 20:13]
Our life on earth is confined to the limitations of our weaknesses which lead us eventually to death, so in order to redeem us from this curse, Christ our Saviour came into the world to give us life, that is to to give it more abundantly [John 10:10], in other words He came to give us eternal life.
So our human limitations and weaknesses are overcome in Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah who by his death destroyed our death and by his resurrection gave us eternal life which is the perfect promise and fulfilment of our redemption.
The dignity of human life is fulfilled in Jesus, who was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the sinless woman who conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit [Matthew 1:23] in order to fulfil the promise of God to save his people by sending His only begotten Son into the world to be our King, our Lord and our Saviour. Jesus is the incarnate Word of God , He was born of a woman and He is the eternal Son of the Living God [Galatians 4:4]. In Him rested the Holy Spirit of God [Isaiah 11:2]; by his sufferings and death we have been healed and saved [Isaiah 53:5].
This extraordinary and divine part of our human existence in Christ is the sacredness of life, it belongs to God not to us, we call it our lives, but it is actually God's property, we take part in the co-creation of life, the nourishing and fulfilment of life, but it is a holy gift, the most valuable of talents for which we have to render an account when we come to judgment before God.
The Will of God concerning life is that it thrives on and on. Life is the Glory of God, therefore where there is life, God is there. If life is taken away by force, the creator of life is denied the right of His glory, no wonder this is such a grave sin.
[Genesis 2:7] And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
The greatest expression of God is life, God calls Himself " I am who I am " in other words God claims by His holy name that He exists. Jesus says I am the Life [John 14:6].
In His goodness God has created a world in which man has been placed on top of all creation by being made in His image [Genesis 1:26] and by having dominion over all creatures.
God created the first woman as a companion and helper of Adam the first man [Genesis 2:18], He decreed that a man will leave his father and mother, cling to his wife and the two will become one flesh. Out of this union comes the fruit of their love which is their children as an expression of their love for each other and as the response to God's command "be fruitful and multiply" [Genesis 1:28]
It is by the grace of God that the gift of procreation has been given to a man and a woman with the objective of glorifying God by having children begotten in His image who will also glorify Him.The last part of creation was the creation of human beings which reflect the perfections of their maker. God is the true author of life, and even though we cooperate in the proliferation of life by the union of man and woman, life depends entirely upon the holy will of God. [Job 12:9-10] 9 Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things? 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man.
Adam and Eve were created in a estate of perfection, innocence, purity and immortality which unfortunately did not last very long due to sin. They did not obey the command of the Lord which resulted in death, the opposite of life.
Death came into the world as a consequence of disobedience with the curse of God: "You are dust and you shall return to dust" [Genesis 3:19], by this this command Adam and Eve as parents and all the human race were stripped of their perfection and immortality.
The first casualty of death was Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was killed by Cain who was filled with envy for his brother, and out of hatred took his life.
God is the author of life; in contrast the devil is the author of death because by tempting men to sin, he was a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44]. This opens the way for the imitators of the evil one who are ready to kill or to violate God's commandments.We have been given free will to accept the Law of God or to defy it by sin.
God has written his law in our hearts so that we can always know what is good and what is wrong, through our conscience we come first to appreciate that life is sacred. The Lord revealed the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. They are the rules by which we are to prove our love to God and to our neighbour. The Fifth commandment states "You shall not kill ". [Exodus 20:13]
Our life on earth is confined to the limitations of our weaknesses which lead us eventually to death, so in order to redeem us from this curse, Christ our Saviour came into the world to give us life, that is to to give it more abundantly [John 10:10], in other words He came to give us eternal life.
So our human limitations and weaknesses are overcome in Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah who by his death destroyed our death and by his resurrection gave us eternal life which is the perfect promise and fulfilment of our redemption.
The dignity of human life is fulfilled in Jesus, who was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the sinless woman who conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit [Matthew 1:23] in order to fulfil the promise of God to save his people by sending His only begotten Son into the world to be our King, our Lord and our Saviour. Jesus is the incarnate Word of God , He was born of a woman and He is the eternal Son of the Living God [Galatians 4:4]. In Him rested the Holy Spirit of God [Isaiah 11:2]; by his sufferings and death we have been healed and saved [Isaiah 53:5].
This extraordinary and divine part of our human existence in Christ is the sacredness of life, it belongs to God not to us, we call it our lives, but it is actually God's property, we take part in the co-creation of life, the nourishing and fulfilment of life, but it is a holy gift, the most valuable of talents for which we have to render an account when we come to judgment before God.
The Will of God concerning life is that it thrives on and on. Life is the Glory of God, therefore where there is life, God is there. If life is taken away by force, the creator of life is denied the right of His glory, no wonder this is such a grave sin.
