Letter of January 20, 2006

Witness to the Life and Dignity of Every Human Person
The Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing

For the 33rd time we will note and properly observe the tragic ‘Day of Infamy’. On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court in the Roe vs. Wade Case made abortion on demand legal in the U.S.A.

Catholics and many millions of Americans will reaffirm their commitment to the value and dignity of all human life, especially the vulnerable and defenseless unborn child. We will witness to the value and dignity of every human person and their right to life at every stage of life.

Our observance this year is inspired and encouraged by the heroic and ultimate witness to ‘the value’, meaning and destiny of the human person by our Holy Father, John Paul II.

Dignity, love, joy and true freedom shone forth in his passing from this life to the next. Countless people over the globe and those in Rome sensed the wondrous fulfillment of his life as a gift to God and all humanity.

Most of his life as a youth, priest and bishop, was lived under the totalitarian heel of National Socialism (Nazis) and Soviet Communism. He witnessed and experienced immense evil inflicted on countless millions in violence, suffering and death.

Respect for the dignity, life and rights of the human person ceased with the denial of all basic freedoms and rights. In this milieu, he became a Catholic on FIRE with the truths of Christ and his Church about the human person. It was the strong and lively faith of Catholics across Eastern Europe that gave them hope and courage.

A repeated and dominant theme of his 27 years as pope is apparent in his thousands of homilies and the major 14 encyclicals. He often stated: "the cause of the Church is the cause of the human person." He died almost on the 10th Anniversary of his monumental encyclical ‘The Gospel of Life’ (3/25/1995). It is an uncomparable document about man and life addressed to all humanity.

The first line is our agenda as witnesses to Life: "The Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as ‘GOOD NEWS’ to the people of every age and culture." Think about it! What the Church teaches about the human person is good, loving and life-giving.

The persevering positive and generous witness of countless Americans, individual and organized like Pro-Life is changing many minds and hearts. We should never be afraid to witness to the truth of human life and the dignity of each person. For most of his life Karol Wotyla as youth, priest and bishop, lived in the midst of terror and had every reason to be afraid. His motto ‘do not be afraid’ describes his entire life unto death.

Here are two, among countless appeals, of John Paul about our witness. His first Apostolic Visit to the U.S.A. was from September 29, to October 8, 1979. While in Washington, D.C., he celebrated Mass at the Washington Mall on October 7, 1979. He spells out our agenda:

And so, we will stand up every time that human life is threatened.
  - When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked,
     we will stand and proclaim that no one ever has the
     authority to destroy unborn life.
  - When a child is described as a burden or looked upon
     only as a means to satisfy an emotional need, we will
     stand up and insist that every child is a unique and
     unrepeatable gift of God, with the right to a loving
     and united family.
  - When the institution of marriage is abandoned to
     human selfishness or reduced to a temporary,
     conditional arrangement that can be easily terminated,
     we will stand up and affirm the indissolubility of the
     marriage bond.
  - When the value of the family is threatened because of
     social and economic pressures, we will stand up and
     reaffirm that the family is "necessary not only for the
     private good of every person, but also for the common
     good of every society, nation and state"
     (General Audience, January 3, 1979).
  - When freedom is used to dominate the weak, to
     squander natural resources and energy, and to deny
     basic necessities to people, we will stand up and 
     reaffirm the demands of justice and social love.
  - When the sick, the aged or the dying are abandoned
     in loneliness, we will stand up and proclaim that they
     are worthy of love, care and respect.

Toward the conclusion of ‘Gospel of Life’ the Pope reminds us of fundamentals:

"In this great endeavor to create a new culture of life we are inspired and sustained by the confidence that comes from knowing that the Gospel of Life, like the Kingdom of God itself, is growing and producing abundant fruit (Mk 4:26-29). There is certainly an enormous disparity between the powerful resources available to the forces promoting the ‘culture of death’ and the means at the disposal of those working for a ‘culture of life and love.’ But we know that we can rely on the help of God, for whom nothing is impossible (Mt 19:26).

Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer. Jesus himself has shown us by his own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil (Mt 4:1-11). As he taught his disciples, some demons cannot be driven out except in this way (Mt 9:29). Let us therefore discover anew the humility and courage to pray and fast so that power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit: the walls which conceal from the sight of so many of our brothers and sisters the evil of practices and laws which are hostile to life. May this same power turn their hearts to resolutions and goals inspired by the civilization of life and love."