January 18, 2009
To the Venerable Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America
Dearly Beloved in Christ:
The Lord Jesus Christ emerged from the waters of Baptism, and heard the Word of the Father: "You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Lord's word to each and every human being, to each and every being which bears the image and can actualize the likeness of God, is the same: You are my beloved. It is the very Word of God who, by His incarnation and assumption of our whole life and our whole condition, affirms and blesses the ultimate value of every human person--and indeed of creation as a whole. He filled it with His own being, uniting us to Himself, making us His own Body, transfiguring and deifying our lives, and raising us up to God our Father. He affirms and fulfills us, not simply as individuals seeking happiness, but rather as persons with an infinite capacity to love and be loved, and thus fulfills us through His own divine personhood in communion.
Our life as human beings is not given to us to live autonomously and independently. This, however, is the great temptation: to deny our personhood, by the depersonalization of those around us, seeing them only as objects that are useful and give us pleasure, or are obstacles to be removed or overcome. This is the essence of our fallenness, our brokenness. With this comes the denial of God, and loss of spiritual consciousness. It has resulted in profound alienation and loneliness, a society plummeting into the abyss of nihilism and despair. There can be no sanctity of life when nothing is sacred, nothing is holy. Nor can there be any respect for persons in a society that accepts only autonomous individualism: there can be no love, only selfish gratification. This, of course, is delusion. We are mutually interdependent.
First as Christians, but even more so, as human beings, we must repent and turn to God and one another, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. Only this will heal the soul. Only by confronting our bitterness and resentment, and finding forgiveness for those who have hurt us, can we be free from the rage that binds us in despair. Repentance is not about beating ourselves up for our errors and feeling guilty; that is a sin in and of itself! Guilt keeps us entombed in self-pity. All sin is some form of self-centeredness, selfishness. Repentance is the transformation of our minds and hearts as we turn away from our sin, and turn to God, and to one another. Repentance means to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean to justify someone's sin against us. When we resent and hold a grudge, we objectify the person who hurt us according to their action, and erect a barrier between us and them. And, we continue to beat ourselves up with their sin. To forgive means to overcome that barrier, and see that there is a person who, just like us, is hurt and broken, and to overlook the sin and embrace him or her in love. When we live in a state of repentance and reconciliation, we live in a communion of love, and overcome all the barriers that prevented us from fulfilling our own personhood.
All the sins against humanity, abortion, euthanasia, war, violence, and victimization of all kinds, are the results of depersonalization. Whether it is "the unwanted pregnancy", or worse, "the fetus" rather than "my son" or "my daughter;" whether it is "the enemy" rather than Joe or Harry (maybe Ahmed or Mohammed), the same depersonalization allows us to fulfill our own selfishness against the obstacle to my will. How many of our elderly, our parents and grandparents, live forgotten in isolation and loneliness? How many Afghan, Iraqi, Palestinian and American youths will we sacrifice to agonizing injuries and deaths for the sake of our political will? They are called "soldiers," or "enemy combatants" or "civilian casualties" or any variety of other euphemisms to deny their personhood. But ask their parents or children! Pro-war is NOT pro-life! God weeps for our callousness.
We have to extend a hand to those suffering from their sins, what ever they are. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven, save the one we refuse to accept forgiveness for. Abortion not only destroys the life of the infant; it rips the soul out of the mother (and the father!). It becomes a sin for which a woman torments herself for years, sinking deeper into despair and self-condemnation and self-hatred. But there is forgiveness, if only she will ask. We must seek out and embrace the veterans who have seen such horrors, and committed them. They need to be able to repent and accept forgiveness, so that their souls, their memories, and their lives, might be healed.
Most of all, we must restore the family: not just the nuclear family, but the multi-generational family which lives together, supports one another, and teaches each one what it means to be loved and to be a person. It teaches what forgiveness and reconciliation are. And it embraces and consoles the prodigals who have fallen. In this, the real sanctity of life is revealed, from pregnancy to old age. And in the multi-generational family each person finds value. This is the most important thing that we can possibly do.
The Blessed Mother Teresa said that the greatest poverty of the industrialized world is loneliness. Let us reach out to those isolated, alienated, alone, and in despair, finding in them someone most worthy of love; and in turn, we will find in ourselves that same love and value, and know indeed that God speaks to us in the depths of our souls, You are my beloved in whom I am well pleased.
With love in Christ,
+JONAH
Archbishop of Washington and New York
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
â–ºChristian Post report on Sanctity of Life Sunday
Four days before abortion rights activists mark the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in the name of a woman's right to choose, pro-life supporters spoke out Sunday on behalf of the most vulnerable and weakest members of society.
National Sanctity of Human Life Day, observed each year for the past 25 years, has been a day when "our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world," noted President Bush in his 2009 proclamation for observation Sunday.
"We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us," Bush added in his last proclamation as president.
The annual observance, which falls on the Sunday closest to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this year came just days before the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, who some critics fear will be "the most radical pro-abortion president" in U.S. history.
During a gathering last year for Planned Parenthood, Obama declared that the first thing he would do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would abolish all restrictions and limitations on women in the United States to have an abortion prior to fetal viability, whether at the state or federal level, or after the point of viability when the life of the mother is endangered.
Obama has also been known for his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and his votes against legislative efforts in the Illinois Senate for three consecutive years (2001-2003) to give legal protections to a baby born alive during an attempted abortion procedure.
“[H]e has embraced legislation that is extreme, inhumane, and outright brutal,” noted Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
“There is no indication that he has the slightest sympathy for unborn children or any interest in ending the ‘culture wars,’” he wrote in a commentary last August. “His past policies would, in fact, deepen the divisions."
Despite concerns, much of the Christian community has been supportive of the president-elect, encouraging and calling for prayers for him since his historic victory last November. Christian leaders including the Rev. Rick Warren and the Rev. Franklin Graham have been among the many conservatives who have publicly expressed their desire to see Obama’s heart changed when it comes to the issue of abortion.
In his proclamation Thursday, President Bush said the "most basic" duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent.
"The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women," he stated. "On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause.
"History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail," he concluded before officially proclaiming Jan. 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day.
"I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being," he added.
The first National Sanctity of Human Life Day was designated by President Ronald Reagan on Jan. 22, 1984. The date was chosen to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that legalized abortions in the United States.
Churches across the country held marches and other events Sunday in honor of the observance. On Jan. 22, a large pro-life gathering called March for Life will take place in Washington D.C. The annual procession is among Washington's largest rallies, drawing an estimated 200,000 people.