 
Excerpts from
The Holy Father'sPro-Life Message For World Youth Day Continued (Page 2) Dear
Friends, this gathering in Denver on the theme of Life should lead us
to a deeper awareness
of the internal contradiction present in a part of the culture of the modem "metropolis". When the Founding Fathers of this great nation enshrined certain inalienable rights in the Constitution - and something similar exists in many countries and in many International Declarations - they did so because they recognised the existence of a "law" - a series of rights and duties - engraved by the Creator on each person's heart and conscience. In much of contemporary thinking, any reference to a "law" guaranteed by the Creator is absent. There remains only each individual's choice of this or that objective as convenient or useful in a given set of circumstances. No longer is anything considered intrinsically "good" and "universally binding". Rights are affirmed but, because they are without any reference to an objective truth, they are deprived of any solid basis (cf Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Threats to Human Life (1, iii). Vast sectors of society are confused about what is right and what is wrong, and impose it on others. The family especially is under attack. And the sacred character of human life denied. Naturally, the weakest members of society are the most at risk: the unborn, children, the sick, the handicapped, the old, the poor and unemployed, the immigrant and refugee, the south of the world! Young pilgrims, Christ needs you to enlighten the world and to show it the "path to life" (Ps 16:1 1). The challenge is to make the Church's "yes" to Life concrete and effective.The struggle will be long, and it needs each one of you. Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life! Have no fear. The outcome of the battle for Life is already decided, even though the struggle goes on against great odds and with much suffering. This certainty is what the Second Reading declares: "Christ is now raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. So in Christ all will come to life again" (I Cor 15:20-22). The paradox of the Christian message is this- Christ - the Head - has already conquered sin and death. Christ in his Body - the pilgrim People of God - continually suffers the onslaught of the Evil One and all the evil which sinful humanity is capable of. At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel of Life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation. Like the great Apostle Paul, you too must feel the full urgency of the task; "Woe to me if I do not evangelize" (Cor 9; 16). Woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life. |
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