Words Come Alive
By peace | August 21, 2008
I just typed the words and it rains. “Words Come Alive”. Yes. Just words, and there is life and lives.
12.19pm Thursday 21 August 2008 Raining now. See what I want to write:
In the beginning was the Word: The Word was with God and the Word was GOD.
~ John 1:1
Straits Times Obituaries 26 April 2008, Saturday: Roger Gan Kee Seong’s (3.11.72 - 26.4.88) favourite Bible verse
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ~ Deuteronomy 6:5
Straits Times Obituaries 26 April 2008, Saturday: Florence Anne Binny Nee Ware
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. ~ Psalm 4:8
Straits Times Obituaries 26 April 2008, Saturday: Cecilia Cheong Mei Peng
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
Straits Times Obituaries 26 April 2008, Saturday: “ITAM” Joseph Lim Swee Chim
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine. ~ Isaiah 43:1
Straits Times Obituaries 26 April 2008, Saturday: Anderson Norman Nee Galistan Juanita
I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ~ 2 Timothy 4:7
Words From God
Fight, battles, come, all come…. See what is called Singapore, Singapore’s Singlish — Sing’ n pour lah – see how the business of Singapore operates, see how the Government protect me, see how UNITED Singaporean are. Come, IF YOU THINK I AM WEONG, COME SUE ME. If being true to myself and being loyal to my country, and being honest is a crime, COME ACCUSED ME.
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The Bible’s Teaching Against Abortion
By peace | August 17, 2008
The Bible’s Teaching Against Abortion
Fr. Frank A. Pavone
The Bible clearly teaches that abortion is wrong. This teaching comes across in many ways and for many reasons. Some people point out that the word “abortion” is not in the Bible, and that is true. Nevertheless, the teaching about abortion is there.
The Bible clearly teaches that abortion is wrong. This teaching comes across in many ways and for many reasons. Some people point out that the word “abortion” is not in the Bible, and that is true. Nevertheless, the teaching about abortion is there. This is the case with many teachings. The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, but the teaching about the Trinity is there. In any case, a person who wants to deny the teaching about abortion would deny it even if the word were there.
Let’s look at some of the Biblical reasons why abortion, the deliberate destruction of a child in the womb, is very wrong.
1. The Bible teaches that human life is different from other types of life, because human beings are made in the very image of God.
The accounts of the creation of man and woman in Genesis (Gen. 1:26-31; 2:4-25) tell us this. “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27).
The word “create” is used three times here, emphasizing a special crowning moment in the whole process of God’s making the world and everything in it. The man and woman are given “dominion” over everything else in the visible world.
Not even the original sin takes away the image of God in human beings. St. James refers to this image and says that because of it we should not even speak ill of one another. “With (the tongue) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the image of God . . . This ought not be so, brothers” (James 3:9-10).
The image of God! This is what it means to be human! We are not just a bunch of cells randomly thrown together by some impersonal forces. Rather, we really reflect an eternal God who knew us from before we were made, and purposely called us into being.
At the heart of the abortion tragedy is the question raised in the Psalms: “Lord, what is man that You care for him, mortal man that You keep him in mind? . . . With glory and honor You crowned him, giving him power over the works of Your hands” (Ps. 8:5-7).
There is the key. Not only did God make us, but He values us. The Bible tells us of a God who is madly in love with us, so much so that He became one of us and even died for us while we were still offending Him (see Rom 5:6-8). In the face of all this, can we say that human beings are disposable, like a car that is more trouble that it’s worth? “God don’t make junk.” He doesn’t die for junk, either. If you believe the Bible, you have to believe that human life is sacred, more sacred than we have ever imagined!
2. The Bible teaches that children are a blessing.
God commanded our first parents to “Be fertile and multiply” (Gen.1:28). Why? God Himself is fertile. Love always overflows into life. When the first mother brought forth the first child, she exclaimed, “I have brought forth a man with the help of the Lord” (Gen 4:1). The help of the Lord is essential, for He has dominion over human life and is its origin. Parents cooperate with God in bringing forth life. Because this whole process is under God’s dominion, it is sinful to interrupt it. The prophet Amos condemns the Ammonites “because they ripped open expectant mothers in Gilead” (Amos 1:13). “Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalm 127:3).
3. The Bible teaches that the child in the womb is truly a human child, who even has a relationship with the Lord.
The phrase “conceived and bore” is used repeatedly (see Gen. 4:1, 17) and the individual has the same identity before as after birth. “In sin my mother conceived me,” the repentant psalmist says in Ps. 51:7. The same word is used for the child before and after birth (”Brephos”, that is, “infant” is used in Lk. 1:41 and Lk. 18:15.)
God knows the pre-born child. “You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret” (Ps. 139: 13,15). God also helps and calls the pre-born child. “You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God” (Ps.22:11-12). “God . . . from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace” (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15).
4. Scripture repeatedly condemns the killing of the innocent.
This flows from everything that has been seen so far. God’s own finger writes in stone the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” (Ex.20:13, Deut. 5:17) and Christ re-affirms it (Mt. 19:18 — notice that He mentions this commandment first.) The Book of Revelation affirms that murderers cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven (Rev. 22:15).
The killing of children is especially condemned by God through the prophets. In the land God gave his people to occupy, foreign nations had the custom of sacrificing some of their children in fire. God told His people that they were not to share in this sin. They did, however, as Psalm 106 relates: “They mingled with the nations and learned their works . . . They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshed” (Ps. 106: 35, 37-38). This sin of child-sacrifice, in fact, is mentioned as one of the major reasons that the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people were taken into exile. “They mutilated their sons and daughters by fire . . . till the Lord, in his great anger against Israel, put them away out of his sight” (2 Kg. 17: 17-18). Not even for “religious freedom” can the killing of children be tolerated.
5. The Bible teaches that God is a God of justice.
An act of justice is an act of intervention for the helpless, an act of defense for those who are too weak to defend themselves. In foretelling the Messiah, Psalm 72 says, “Justice shall flower in his days . . . for he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted when He has no one to help him” (Ps 72:7, 12). Jesus Christ is our justice (1 Cor. 1:30) because He rescued us from sin and death when we had none to help (See Rm 5:6, Eph. 2:4-5).
If God does justice for His people, He expects His people to do justice for one another. “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful” (Lk. 6:36). “Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10:37). “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” (Mt. 7:12). “Love one another” (Jn. 15:17).
Abortion is the opposite of these teachings. It is a reversal of justice. It is a destruction of the helpless rather than a rescue of them. If God’s people do not intervene to save those whose lives are attacked, then the people are not pleasing or worshipping Him.
God says through Isaiah, “Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings . . . Your festivals I detest . . . When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean . . . learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow” (Isaiah 1: 13-17).
Indeed, those who worship God but support abortion are falling into the same contradiction as God’s people of old, and need to hear the same message.
6. Jesus Christ paid special attention to the poor, the despised, and those whom the rest of society considered insignificant.
He broke down the false barriers that people set up between each other, and instead acknowledged the equal human dignity of every individual, despite what common opinion might say. Hence we see Him reach out to children despite the efforts of the apostles to keep them away (Mt. 19:13-15); to tax-collectors and sinners despite the objections of the Scribes (Mk. 2:16); to the blind despite the warnings of the crowd (Mt. 20:29-34); to a foreign woman despite the utter surprise of the disciples and of the woman herself (Jn 4:9, 27); to Gentiles despite the anger of the Jews (Mt. 21:41-46); and to the lepers, despite their isolation from the rest of society (Lk. 17:11-19).
When it comes to human dignity, Christ erases distinctions. St Paul declares, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave or free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
We can likewise say, “There is neither born nor unborn.” Using this distinction as a basis for the value of life or the protection one deserves is meaningless and offensive to all that Scripture teaches. The unborn are the segment of our society which is most neglected and discriminated against. Christ Himself surely has a special love for them.
7. Scripture teaches us to love.
St. John says, “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother” (1 Jn. 3:11-12). Love is directly contrasted with slaughter. To take the life of another is to break the command of love. To fail to help those in need and danger is also to fail to love.
Christ teaches this clearly in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:25-37), in the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31), and in many other places. No group of people is in more serious danger than the boys and girls in the womb. “If someone . . . sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in Him?” (1 Jn 3:17).
8. Life is victorious over death.
This is one of Scripture’s most basic themes. The victory of life is foretold in the promise that the head of the serpent, through whom death entered the world, would be crushed (see Gen. 3:15).
Isaiah promised, “He will destroy death forever” (Is. 25:8). At the scene of the first murder, the soil “opened its mouth” to swallow Abel’s blood. At the scene of the final victory of life, it is death itself that “will be swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? . . . Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:54-57).
Abortion is death. Christ came to conquer death, and therefore abortion. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn.10:10).
The final outcome of the battle for life has already been decided by the Resurrection of Christ. It is up to us to spread that victory to every person. The pro-life movement is moving from the victory Christ won to the fullness of that victory on the last day. “There shall be no more death” (Rev. 21:4). “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).
Source: Fr. Frank A. Pavone: “The Bible’s Teaching Against Abortion.” Priests for Life (www.priestsforlife.org)
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The Catholic Church and Abortion
By peace | August 16, 2008
The Catholic Church and Abortion
Church Has Always Condemned Abortion
By Fr. William Saunders
The Roman Catholic Church has consistently condemned abortion — the direct and purposeful taking of the life of the unborn child. In principle, Catholic Christians believe that all life is sacred from conception until natural death, and the taking of innocent human life, whether born or unborn, is morally wrong. The Church teaches, “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever 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 circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being” (”Donum vitae,” 5).
The respect for the sacredness of life in the womb originates in Christianity’s Jewish roots. The ancient Jewish world was much different from the surrounding cultures of Palestine where infanticide, infant sacrifice and abortion were not uncommon, and in some cases prevalent. For the Jewish people of those times and orthodox Jews to this day, all human life has as its author the one God whose creative power produces the child in the mother’s womb and brings it step-by-step to full life. The Old Testament revelation, which the Church inherited and accepted, gives clear evidence that life in the womb was considered as sacred. Moses proclaimed, “When you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, all these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you: May you be blessed in the city, and blessed in the country! Blessed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks! Blessed be your grain bin and your kneading bowl! May you be blessed in your coming in and blessed in your going out!” (Dt 28:2-6). The angel told the mother of Sampson, “As for the son you will conceive and bear, no razor shall touch his head, for this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb” (Jgs 13:5). Job stated, “Did not he who made me in the womb make him? Did not the same one fashion us before our birth?” (Jb 31:15). In Psalm 139:13, we pray, “Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.”
The Old Testament also testifies how God had specially marked individuals for an important role of leadership from the very first moment of their lives: “Beloved of his people, dear to his Maker, dedicated from his mother’s womb, consecrated to the Lord as a prophet, was Samuel, the judge and priest” (Sir 46:13). The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “Hear me, O coastlands, listen, o distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb He gave me my name. He made of me sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of His arms. He made me a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid me. You are my servant, He said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. For now the Lord has spoken who formed me as His servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to Him and Israel gathered to Him, and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!” (Is 49:1-5). Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah recalled, “The word of the Lord came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer 1:4-5).
Granted, some later rabbinic interpretations allowed exceptions for abortion, but there was no consistent or prevailing justification. The overriding Jewish teaching upheld the sanctity of the life of the unborn child.
The Greco-Roman world at the time of our Lord and in which Christianity grew permitted abortion and infanticide. In Roman law, the two acts were really not distinguished because an infant did not have legal status until accepted by the pater familias, the head of the family; until accepted, the infant was a non-person who could be destroyed. In some parts of the Roman Empire, abortion and infanticide were so prevalent that reproduction rates were below the zero-growth level. (Sad to say, most European countries face a similar plight today due to contraception and abortion.)
Nevertheless, the Christians upheld the sanctity of the life of the unborn child, not only because of the Old Testament revelation as cited but also because of the mystery of the incarnation. The early Christians, as we still do, believed that Mary had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and through her, Jesus Christ — second person of the Holy Trinity, consubstantial with the Father, and true God — became also true man. No faithful Christian would ever deny that Jesus was a true person whose life was sacred from the first moment of His conception in the womb of His blessed Mother Mary.
The story of the visitation further attests to the sanctity of life in the womb and the personhood of the unborn child: “Thereupon Mary set out, proceeding in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out in a loud voice: ‘Blest are you among women and blest is the fruit of your womb. But who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy. Blest is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled’” (Lk 1:39-45).
Given the revelation of the Old and New Testaments, with special emphasis on the mystery of the incarnation, the Roman Catholic Church has condemned the practice of abortion. Several examples of teaching which span the first three hundred years of our Church include the following: The “Didache” (”The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles,” c. 80 A.D.) asserted, “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child.” The “Epistle of Barnabas” (138) also condemned abortion. Athenagoras (177) in his “A Plea on Behalf of Christians” (a defense against paganism) emphasized that Christians consider as murderers those women who take medicines to procure an abortion; he condemns the killer of children, including those still living in their mother’s womb, “where they are already the object of the care of divine providence.” Tertullian, (197) in his “Apologeticum” likewise asserted, “To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be man is already one.” In the year 300, the Council of Elvira, a local church council in Spain, passed specific legislation condemning abortion (Canon 63).
After the legalization of Christianity in 313, the condemnation against abortion remained. For instance, St. Basil in a letter to Bishop Amphilochius (374) clearly pronounces the Church’s teaching: “A woman who has deliberately destroyed a fetus must pay the penalty for murder” and “Those also who give drugs causing abortions are murderers themselves, as well as those who receive the poison which kills the fetus.”
While many other examples could be offered, the key point is that the Roman Catholic Church from the beginning has consistently upheld the sanctity of the life of the unborn child and condemned the act of direct abortion. To oppose this teaching contradicts the revelation of Sacred Scripture and Christian tradition. As our nation marks the anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, we as Catholic Christians must pray for a change of heart in all citizens and courageously teach and defend the sanctity of human life, particularly that of the defenseless, innocent unborn children.
Source: Rev. William Saunders, “Church Has Always Condemned Abortion.” Arlington Catholic Herald (www.catholicherald.com/)
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