December 3, 2010
Diocese participates in worldwide pro-life vigil
Sisters Angie Lasher and Cathy Russell pray the rosary before the Vigil for All Nascent Human Life, held Nov. 28 at St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MESSAGE STAFF and CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the beginning of Advent with a prayer for life and a defense of the human embryo.
The pope presided over an evening prayer service at the Vatican Nov. 27, part of a worldwide pro-life vigil. He said it was an appropriate initiative to launch Advent, the liturgical period in which the church prepares to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
A vigil service for All Nascent Human Life was held Nov. 28 at St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville. Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger presided at the service.
In the homily he talked about parents awaiting the birth of their child, noting that for every vigil there are ups and downs.
“As we begin this Church year, the Holy Father has asked us to respect life — all life from conception to natural death. On this eve of another Church year, we find the need to respect all life.”
When Lisa Bittner heard about the vigil service at the cathedral she wanted to “be a part of the unity of the whole Church.” She, her husband Steve and their daughters, Kate and Veronica, came to Evansville from Fort Branch “because we wanted to be part of that, and to pray for all the unborn.”
Angie Lasher also attended the vigil with her sister, Cathy Russell. Angie said she was there “because I wanted to come in support of our bishop for holding this in our diocese. We need to keep it on people’s minds, that we need to pray for the unborn every day.”
During the vigil, the following petitions were made
- You knit us in our mother’s womb, preserve all children from bodily harm from the moment of conception;
- Your Son ennobled all human life when he became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, enlighten our minds to see the dignity of every human life from its earliest embryonic beginnings;
- You are the author of science and knowledge, bring an end to the destruction of human embryos in research facilities and IVF clinics;
- You love those who are afflicted, help parents of unborn children with disabilities to cherish the baby you have entrusted to their care.
In his homily, the pope said the church’s teaching against abortion comes from its teaching about the dignity of every human life and its concern that the unborn is most vulnerable to “the selfishness of adults and the clouding of consciences.”
“There are cultural tendencies that seek to anesthetize consciences with spurious arguments,” the pope said.
Regarding the human embryo, the pope said science itself has demonstrated the embyro’s autonomous capacity of interaction with the mother, the coordination of its biological processes, the continuity of its development and its complexity as an organism.
“It’s not a question of a collection of biological material, but of a new living being, dynamic and marvelously ordered, a new individual of the human species,” he said.
“This is how Jesus was in Mary’s womb; this is how we each were, in our mother’s wombs,” he said.
The pope cited the early church author Tertullian, who reasoned that abortion is wrong because, as he wrote, “He is a man, who is to be a man.” The pope added that “there is no reason not to consider him a person from the moment of conception.”
Pope Benedict emphasized that the threat to human life does not end at birth. He said children today are often subject to abandonment, hunger, poverty, disease, abuse, violence and ex-ploitation. Faced with this “sad panorama of injustices” before and after birth, the church calls everyone to responsibility, he said.
He urged leaders in politics, economics and communications to do everything possible to promote a culture that respects human life and to establish a network of services that support human life.
On Nov. 28, the first Sunday of Advent, the pope spoke to pilgrims from his apartment window about the im-portance of “expectant waiting” in the period before Christmas and in people’s lives in general.
“We think of the expectation of a child by a married couple, or of a visit by a distant relative or friend. We think of a young person who awaits the outcome of a decisive examination, or a meeting at work,” he said.
“One can say that a person is alive as long as he is expectant, as long as hope lives in his heart,” he said.