Easter: Good news of a pro-life culture

by Rev. Fr. Leopold Ratnasekera, OMI Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya

Easter proclaims the decisive gospel event of the Resurrection of Lord Jesus which is at the inner core of the Church's faith. It is this paschal faith from which all understanding about the mysteries of sin and grace flow. The Lamb of God that was slain took away the sins of the world and emerging from the empty tomb vanquished the darkness and gloom of death.

Instead of the sorrow and pain of death, there is given to us now the joy and jubilation of Grace. Prophet Ezekiel shows how people are invited to a life in God: "Cast away from you all transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone says the Lord God.

Turn, then, and live." (Ezek. 18:31-32).

Right before entering the promised land God tells his people to make a choice: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God" (Deut. 30:19-20).

Jesus affirms the revelation to Moses given at the burning bush that the God of the patriarchs is God not of the dead, but of the living (Mark 12:26-27). This was to illustrate the truth of life after death, the pledge of which was his Own Resurrection. Through it, the great act of redemption has been accomplished and the final enemy of man which is death has been defeated.

Is it not St. Paul who says that the wages of sin is death?

Age of Life

Hence we are now in a new age of grace, reconciliation, love and peace. It is an age of life, the abundance of which we have received from Jesus, the Saviour as St. John so beautifully testifies: "He came that we may have life and have it in abundance!" (John 10:10).

Jesus Himself at the tomb of Lazarus, declares Himself to be the Life and the Resurrection. If anyone believes in Him, though he may die, yet he will live. The Gospel then ends with this message of a call to life in Christ, the culture of grace that guarantees the hope of our happy final destiny in God, at the eternal banquet of His Kingdom - fullness of life experienced in the completion of our being and super-abundance of love in a land where there is no more sin or death.

We see, therefore, that Easter proclaims all values akin to life; a life that is worth living. It is pro-life and anti-death. In the recent language of the Pope, there has been a reference to a culture of life and a civilisation of love with an outright condemnation of a culture of death and hate that seems to prevail in today's society.

Abortion and euthanasia have been named as clear manifestations of a culture of death while suicide, terrorism and even killing in the name of God have appeared as dangerous signs of this invading culture of death.

Absolute freedom claimed by modern-day technology especially in the field of bio-ethics and medical research raises the serious want of moral perceptions in this regard.

Can such procedures such as all artificial reproductive technologies and cloning, stem-cell research and the harvesting of embryos be justified in the light of the Christian faith and the morality about the respect and dignity of human life that the Church has constantly and painstakingly hitherto defended?

Life also is a precious value connected with conjugal love, marriage and family. There seems to be today great threats to the sanctity of family life where this perennial sanctuary of love and life is being put out of focus and violated in its sublime dignity.

Gay marriages and legal unions have appeared that displace completely the noble ideals of marriage. The manufacture of lethal weapons such as nuclear armaments, their production, sale, deployment, use and testing is posing a serious threat to peace between contending countries and to the world at large as its fall-out.

Whether weapons be conventional or of mass destruction, the threat produced is the same. Despite highly complicated technology the dangers that can overtake us can be seen from the recent meltdown of the nuclear reactors in Japan as a result of the unexpected and almost apocalyptic devastation that has been triggered due to the tsunami and earthquake tragedies. We do not seem to retain the frightful memories of Nagasaki and Hiroshima at all.

Denial of Life

Then, there comes the danger to life from unbridled alcoholism, psychological tensions of all kinds and a sense of meaninglessness as men are tossed in a sea of problems from which they search a panacea for their ills. Psychological trauma due to despair, failure, displacement, loss of limb and property and other sudden natural disasters have affected people emotionally.

The need for counselling has become an urgent need to many who have fallen victims to such distressful situations. Many languishing in jails without trial, lingering in refugee camps with settlement being delayed and migrants displaced overseas bear the heavy burdens of life and its demands.

The denial or absence of basic needs to live decent human lives, robs the quality of life to which all human beings have a fundamental right; food, clothing, shelter and work. These provide the basics in life.

Many a time, the denial of these basics leads also to poverty which in turn leads to decadence of moral standards as well, since poverty begets crime and there can be cases of human degradation in this area like prostitution and the degradation of sexuality.

Pervasive poverty

Pervasive poverty in a society is a bad omen and an impediment to human development and moral decadence. Development has to be integral to work towards an abundance of life for all. Development cannot be measured in terms only of material amelioration: to have an integral human development all aspects have to be dealt with: material, spiritual, moral, cultural, social and political.

The life-threatening pandemic which is HIV-AIDS needs a more effective approach of prevention through education in sexuality and formation is sound morality than a mere quick-fix solution.

The story of the Resurrection was preceded by a sad and shocking spectacle of the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth. In the mind of His accusers, He was brutally killed for being guilty of blasphemy, for arousing social unrest and challenging the authority of Caesar, the symbol of imperial Rome, the colonial power that ruled Palestine.

But, they were wrong and ill-willed.

It was an unjust trial and involved a lot of lying, cheating and misleading of the public. The tables turned for His accusers when Christ rose from the tomb.

Abundant Life

However, Jesus in His life though He condemned sin in all its forms, never rejected the sinner or wrong-doer. He was ready to touch the untouchable leper and keep company of sinners and befriend the Samaritans who were the arch-enemies of the Jews.

He taught people to forgive seventy times seven, to pray for their enemies and to do good to those who hated them. St. Paul taught beautifully the early Christian communities as to how in Jesus the great reconciliation between the circumcised Jews and the gentiles was realised in the Precious Blood of Christ.

Abundance of life cannot flow in a divided society that finds itself beset by all kinds of tensions and quarrels. For an abundant life, peace among nations is categorically important. Peace-makers are the best life-givers. War-mongers are the death-dealers.

Jesus not only restored life to the dead and the terminally sick but also bestowed most importantly the forgiveness of sin, that killer who is the ultimate agent of the death of the spirit and the inflictor of multiple estrangements: God from man and men among themselves. And so, sinners rediscovering their worth and tarnished self-image were able to make a fresh start in life with renewed hope.

Blessings of Life

As an Easter-people, we proclaim life in its fullness for all including the environment and the external world that is our heritage from the Creator - this beautiful planet that is humanity's common home. God could never be a god of death, pain and destruction. But in giving Himself of all what He was and had, the Risen Lord sheds the light of truth and love that are the lasting ingredients of a meaningful and happy life for mankind.

He is the Divine Healer and the Good Shepherd that cares for the sheep lost and bleeding among the thorns. He keeps watch at the sheep-gate lest brigands steal in by night and wrest the sheep. He tends the sheep not to live on them but to lead them to ever-green and fresh pastures. The pastures of God are graced by truth, justice, love and brotherhood.

These blessings will keep at bay the impending dangers to life and living.

As we celebrate the festival of the Risen Lord today, we are called to be witnesses to the blessings of life and do all what we can to advance its prospects.