Sanctity of Life Fr. James Jorgenson

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ.

Glory be to Him. The remarks that I want to share

with you this morning center around today's Gospel,

and then I will go into reflections on today's

Sunday, the Sanctity of Life Sunday. And I think

that there's a genuine connection between the

gospel and the sanctity of life Sunday. The gospel,

of course, is the healing of the blind man on

the road to Jericho. The gospel event is related

substantially the same in Matthew, Mark, and

Luke. provides the name of this blind man, Bartimaeus.

But in all these three Gospels, this event is

within the context, it's placed near the end

of Jesus' ministry. He's on the road to Jericho.

He's going up to Jerusalem for that great confrontation

between him and the Pharisees leading up to his

own death. imprisonment, and execution. So what

happens here is that a blind man hears a lot

of commotion, and he asks, what's this all about?

And they tell him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing

by. And notice what the blind man says in all

three Gospels. Jesus, son of David, have mercy

on me. The blind man, in other words, acknowledges,

and this is why this point is made in Matthew,

Mark, and Luke. The blind man acknowledges what

the religious establishment, by and large, the

scribes and the Pharisees, and many of the people

at that time, did not see or refused to acknowledge.

that Jesus is the long -awaited Messiah, the

Son of David, who is to come into the world to

save them and to save all human beings from their

sins and offer eternal life. The point here is

that some people realized who Jesus was. Others

did not acknowledge him. And it's hard to look

into their souls why they didn't. Either they

were hard -hearted or they genuinely didn't see.

But some saw and some didn't the truth of who

Jesus is. And this, I think, is my connection,

my bridge to the Sanctity of Life Sunday. It

is certainly well known to all of us. that in

our society one of the most divisive issues is

the question of unborn babies, the legitimacy

or illegitimacy of abortion, terminating the

life of unborn babies. Some people see this.

Other people, for some reason or another, just

do not see it. This is an extension of the commandment

of God, thou shalt not kill. This commandment,

unlike the other commandments, are codified in

the law of Moses, but also more deeply than that

is what many people call the natural law. Human

beings, in their hearts, generally speaking,

do know or should know what is right and what

is wrong. So even without the aid of revelation,

murder is wrong. An example of this is the oath

of Hippolytus, This is 400 years before Christ.

The affirmation by physicians of their ethics.

And within this oath of Apollotus, it says, neither

will I administer a poison to anyone who asks

to do so. In other words, no assisted suicide.

nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly,

neither will I give to a woman a device to cause

abortion, but I will keep holy both my life and

my heart. A pre -Christian pagan realizes this.

This, I think, is reflected In the final conclusion,

and I meant to say this before the oath for Hippolytus,

the encyclical letter of the Metropolitan on

Sanctity of Life, and he concludes with this

message. I believe we should affirm to the world,

to anyone considering an abortion, to anyone

counseling someone to have an abortion, to anyone

who supports this practice, the lessons we have

been taught by our Master, the ways of mercy,

compassion, and love in doing so. I pray that

we will enkindle in their hearts and minds a

change. In other words, to realize what even

a pre -Christian like Hippolytus, or Hippocrates,

I mean. Hippocrates. Thank you. When you get

old, you get goofed up on things. If I say anything,

if I quote Aristotle instead of Jesus, correct

me. But it is Hippocrates' note, not Hippolytus'

oath, not Hippolytus, the early Christian martyr.

So that they too will learn to walk in these

same ways and will be moved to protect and defend

the most vulnerable, That's so true. The most

vulnerable place in America to live is in the

womb nowadays. The sanctity of life is affirmed

in the Old Testament, particularly Psalm 139.

knit me together from my mother's womb. The prayer

of the Aptina elders reflects the same thing.

O Lord, illumine my mind and my heart with the

understanding of thine eternal and unchanging

statutes, not just reflected in the Ten Commandments,

but the eternal statutes. that God implanted

in the hearts and minds of all human beings.

Illumine my mind and my heart with the understanding

of thine eternal and unchanging statutes. This

also, Christians have always maintained, the

sanctity of life. They've understood the commandment,

thou shalt not kill, as applying to all life,

including life in the womb. There's an early

Christian document, which in some instances,

collections, is included with the New Testament,

written about the year 100. It's called the Letter

of Barnabas. presuming to be the companion of

St. Paul. And in this, the letter of Barnabas

states, Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring

abortion, nor again shall you destroy it after

it is born. In other words, no infanticide either.

Life is holy. And years ago, I remember when

people would come to me and say, Father, my wife

and I, or my husband and I, want to have a child,

but can you pray that God will give us a child?

Or also, expectant mothers would say, please

pray for the health of my unborn baby. to say

this prayer. It's sort of made up on my own,

but I think it reflects the teachings of the

scriptures and our Christian message. I prayed

for those unborn infants and for the conception

of those who wish to conceive. This is what I

say. Virgin Mary Theotokos, intercede. for those

who wish to conceive and have conceived, that

they will have safe delivery, healthy children

without birth defects, and that all human beings

will acknowledge the sanctity of life and the

holiness of marriage. This is the message of

the scriptures. our church as well on this Sunday.

We have to pray that this same message illumines

the minds of all human beings. Sure, abortion

is a complex legal and social issue, but the

fundamental idea about the importance of human

life cannot be compromised. So we pray today,

as the Metropolitan said in his message, that

all human beings will see this and acknowledge

it. And as a final manifestation of the holiness

of human life, we have in the center of the Church

the icon of the Visitation, an event which, of

course, you are familiar with. I'll just read

a few verses here from the conclusion of St.

Luke's Gospel, Chapter 1. This is after the Annunciation.

In those days, Mary arose and went with haste

to the hill country, to a city of Judah. And

she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted

Elizabeth, her kinswoman. And when Elizabeth

heard the greeting of Mary, The babe leapt in

her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy

Spirit, and she exclaimed in a loud voice, Blessed

are you among women, and blessed is the fruit

of your womb, what you are containing within

yourself. And why is this granted to me, that

the mother of my Lord, should come to me. For

behold, when the voice of your greeting came

to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And blessed is she who believed that there would

be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from

the Lord. And Mary says that beautiful hymn which

we sing at matins every day in our church services.

My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices

in God my Savior. So today let us pray for all

of our fellow Americans and for all human beings

around the world that they will realize the natural

law of God, which is implanted in their hearts.

And it is confirmed by revelation of the Old

Testament and the New Testament and the teaching

of the church. And let us pray for the individuals

involved. And I'll conclude again with my own

prayer. Virgin Mary Theotokos. Intercede for

those who wish to conceive and have conceived

that they may have a safe carriage and delivery,

healthy children, no birth defects, and that

all men will acknowledge the holiness of life

and the holiness of Christian marriage. Amen.