Thou Shall Not Kill

Jesus, I trust in you!

Jesus said to us, his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors: You shall not kill and whoever kills will be liable to judgment…”  Pope John Paul II said in Evangelium Vitae: “Human life is sacred because from its beginning, it involves ‘the creative action of God’ and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being.”…Donum Vitae sets forth the central content of God’s revelation on the sacredness and inviolability of human life.

“Sacred Scripture in fact, presents the precept ‘You shall not kill’ as a divine commandment…this commandment is found in the Decalogue, at the heart of the Covenant which the Lord makes with his chosen people; but it was already contained in the original covenant between God and humanity after the purifying punishment of the Flood, caused by the spread of sin and violence.

“God proclaims that he is the absolute Lord of the life of man, who is formed in his image and likeness. Human life is thus given a sacred and inviolable (banal, hindi maaring labagin) character, which reflects the inviolability of the Creator himself.  Precisely for this reason God will severely judge every violation of the commandment ‘You shall not kill’…He is the defender of the innocent. God thus shows that he does not delight in the death of the living (Wisdom 1:3). Only Satan can delight therein: for through his envy death entered the world (Wis. 2:24). He who is ‘a murderer from the beginning’, is also ‘a liar and the father of lies.’ By deceiving man he leads him to projects of sin and death, making them appear as goals and fruits of life.

“As explicitly formulated, the precept ‘You shall not kill’ is strongly negative: it indicates the extreme limit which can never be exceeded. However, implicitly it encourages a positive attitude of absolute respect for life; it leads to the promotion of life and to progress along the way of a love that gives, receives, and serves. The people of the Covenant…progressively matured in this way of thinking, and thus prepared for the great proclamation of Jesus that the commandment to love one’s neighbor is like the commandment to love God: ‘on these 2 commandments depend all the law and the prophets.’ St. Paul emphasizes that ‘the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ and any other commandment are summed up in this phrase: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ …The commandment ‘You shall not kill’ stands as an indispensable condition for being able ‘to enter life’. In this same perspective…the Apostle John (says): “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 Jn 3:15)

The Didache, an ancient document of the Church coming from the Apostolic times said: “There are 2 ways, a way of life and a way of death; there is a great difference between them…In accordance with the precept of the teaching ‘You shall not kill’…you shall not put a child to death by abortion nor kill it once it is born…The way of death is this: …they do show no compassion for the poor, they do not suffer with the suffering, they do not acknowledge their Creator, they kill their children and by abortion cause God’s creatures to perish; they drive away the needy, oppress the suffering; they are advocates of the rich and unjust judges of the poor; they are filled with every sin. May you be able to stay ever apart, O children from these sins.

“This should not come as a surprise: to kill a human being, in whom the image of God is present, is a particularly serious sin. Only God is the master of life! (Evangelium Vitae, 53-55.)

The Book of Sirach teaches us: Before man are life and death, good and evil, whatever he chooses shall be given to him.

Let us choose life. Let us choose to stand by the commandments of God, even if we shall be persecuted and mocked for this. (March for life on Saturday, Feb 18 at the Qurino grandstand at 4:30 to 7:00 am) There is no mistake in standing up for life. There is no mistake in standing on the side of the God of life. If you keep the commandments, “they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live.”

O Mary Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!