Human Life Is Sacred

In [God’s] hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

-Job 12:10

Every human life is sacred. Blessed John Paul II often reminded us of this, and that is why our final Year of Faith reflection is on the dignity of the human person. 

The topic of human life is covered in the Catechism of the Catholic Church under the Fifth Commandment, you shall not kill. The section begins with:

‘Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstances claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being’ (as quoted in CCC, 2258).

Scripture tells us that all human life is to be protected and respected from the first moment of existence until natural death. This is because “the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God” (2319).

It follows, then, that murder is forbidden in all of its forms. This includes even a sort of “spiritual murder” that Our Lord described:

You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment (Mt 5:21-22).

This forbids scandal, which “is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil” (CCC, 2284). Drug use is also forbidden, or anything that negatively affects one’s health. The dignity of the human person requires that we respect the integrity of our bodies and the bodies of others. It requires that we respect the dead, and that we strive towards peace at all times.

There is a long quote from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church that seems to capture one of the main reasons why it is difficult for us to respect all human life:

It is not power, but love that redeems us! This is God’s sign: he himself is love. How often do we wish that God would show himself stronger, that he would strike decisively, defeating evil and creating a better world. All ideologies of power justify themselves in exactly this way, they justify the destruction of whatever would stand in the way of progress and the liberation of humanity. We suffer on account of God’s patience. And yet, we need his patience. God, who became a lamb, tells us that the world is saved by the Crucified One, not by those who crucified him. The world is redeemed by the patience of God. It is destroyed by the impatience of man.

-Pope Benedict XVI, April 24, 2005

Many times we wish that God would work differently than He does. We progressively scheme as a society, desiring to take the fate of the world into our own hands. Our intentions may appear good, but if we impatiently act without God’s law or without God’s help, we often do so at the expense of human life. Just think back to the Nazi and communist regimes that our own Blessed John Paul II lived under.

If we begin to see every sacred human being as Christ sees him or her, then we will begin to build on to the “civilization of love” that John Paul II so often preached about. This will take patience, this will take hope, and ultimately, this will take grace. But if in prayer we honestly tell the Lord that we want to want to embrace the dignity of every human life, He will offer what we need in return.

Blessed John Paul II, please pray for us, that we may begin to live for the dignity of every human person.

This is our tenth and final Year of Faith reflection on the Catechism of the Catholic Church here on Open Wide the Doors. See our first post here.