Cutting through the Cultural Fog of Moral Relativism
By Jack Rigert
You Shall not kill
“If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17)
Nowhere is the dividing line between life and death, good and evil, made clearer than in abortion. We live in a Godless public square, that has become a Sodom and Gomorrah, where anything goes. I live in Illinois where the mayor of Chicago and the Governor are outraged that Roe v Wade was reversed. While many other states will put a stop to the slaughter of our most innocent, Illinois is competing with New York and California for the title ‘abortion capitol of the world’. This blood is a stain on our state. These politicians, while calling for an end to the murder and violence on our streets, do not have the wisdom or moral fortitude to understand that if you condone the murder and violence of the most innocent in the womb that you will get murder and violence in our society. Evil is firmly in control.
“And behold, one came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’” (Matt 19:6). Jesus replied, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:7). The Teacher is speaking about eternal life, that is, a sharing in the life of God himself. This life is attained through the observance of the Lord’s commandments, including the commandment “You shall not kill”. This is the first precept from the decalogue which Jesus quotes to the young man who asks him what commandments he should observe: “Jesus said, ‘You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal…’” (Mt 19:18).[1]
Jesus is being ‘pastoral’ and so he speaks the truth, “You shall not kill”. God’s commandment is never detached from his love: it is always a gift meant for man’s growth and joy. As such, it represents an essential and indispensable aspect of the Gospel, actually becoming “gospel” itself; joyful good news. The Gospel of life is both a great gift of God and an exacting task for humanity. It gives rise to amazement and gratitude in the person graced with freedom, and it asks to be welcomed, preserved and esteemed, with a deep sense of responsibility. In giving life to man, God demands that he love, respect and promote life. The gift becomes a commandment, and the commandment is itself a gift.”[2]
Regarding life, man is not the absolute master and final judge, but rather—and this is where his incomparable greatness lies—he is the “minister of God’s plan”. Life is entrusted to man as a treasure which must not be squandered, as a talent which must be used well. Man must render an account of it to his Master (cf. Mt 25:14-30; Lk 19:12-27).[3]
While Illinois politicians promote what John Paul II called the ‘Culture of Death’ at the state level, President Joe Biden and Speaker Pelosi, promote it across the Country and the World. While I am tempted to single them out because they call themselves “Catholic” I realize that this is a situation, broadly speaking, that is an issue throughout the whole Church. Why should we expect anyone to be practicing the Catholic faith when we don’t teach the Catholic faith? When we allow false prophets and false teachers in the Church while canceling those who are willing to stand for the truth. “If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:7).
When I heard that Pelosi’s home archbishop, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, said he will no longer allow her to receive the Eucharist in his archdiocese because of her support for abortion rights, I thought, “a bishop who is being pastoral!” He joins Bishop Paprocki in Illinois who said the same to “Catholic” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin who is also a supporter of abortion. Cordileone said that Pelosi must either repudiate her support for abortion or stop speaking publicly of her Catholic faith.
Then he was criticized by non-other than Pope Francis, who said, “the Church loses its ‘pastoral nature’ when Communion is denied to pro-abortion Catholic politicians and that ‘it causes a political problem.’”
It was later reported in the Associated Press that, “U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights. Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen pallium stole on newly consecrated archbishops. She was seated in a VIP diplomatic section of the basilica and received Communion along with the rest of the congregants, according to two people who witnessed the moment.”
I ask again, Why should we expect anyone to be practicing the Catholic faith when we don’t teach the Catholic faith?
Pope Francis said that ‘the Church loses its pastoral nature’ when Communion is denied to pro-abortion Catholic politicians and that ‘it causes a political problem.’
In reply to Pope Francis, Bishop Strickland wrote: “Denying Communion to Nancy Pelosi is ‘pastoral care’ ‘Pastoral care for Mrs. Pelosi is to tell her that she should not receive the Body of Christ until she stops advocating the murder of unborn children,’ wrote the Texas bishop.
Pope John Paul II, often quoting from Vatican II, a pastoral council, wrote, “great care must be taken to respect every life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors, but the commandment “You shall not kill” has absolute value when it refers to the innocent person. And more so in the case of weak and defenseless human beings, who find their ultimate defense against the arrogance and caprice of others only in the absolute binding force of God’s commandment.[4]
In effect, the absolute inviolability of innocent human life is a moral truth clearly taught by Sacred Scripture, constantly upheld in the Church’s Tradition, and consistently proposed by her Magisterium. This consistent teaching is the evident result of the “supernatural sense of faith” which, inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirt, safeguards the People of God from error when “it shows universal agreement in matters of faith and morals”.[5]
“Jesus said, ‘You shall not kill”. Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable.[6] The pastoral council, Vatican II, defined abortion as an “unspeakable crime”.[7] Today, in many people’s consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behavior and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need to know now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception.
In this regard the prophet is extremely straightforward: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Is 5:20).[8]
