Gospel of Life : On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life

by John Paul II, Pope

• ISBN13: 9781555863166
• ISBN10: 1555863167
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-04-01
• Publisher: USCCB

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(1)
The incomparable worth of the human person [2]	4	(2)
New threats to human life [3--4]	6	(3)
In communion with all the Bishops of the world [5--6]	9	(4)
The Voice of Your Brother's Blood Cries to me from the Ground
Present-Day Threats to Human Life
``Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him'' (Gen 4:8): the roots of violence against life [7--9]	13	(6)
``What have you done?'' (Gen 4:10): the eclipse of the value of life [10--17]	19	(11)
``Am I my brother's keeper?'' (Gen 4:9): a perverse idea of freedom [18--20]	30	(7)
``And from your face I shall be hidden'' (Gen 4:14): the eclipse of the sense of God and of man [21--24]	37	(7)
``You have come to the sprinkled blood'' (cf. Heb 12:22, 24): signs of hope and invitation to commitment [25--28]	44	(8)
I Came that they May have Life
The Christian Message Concerning Life
``The life was made manifest, and we saw it'' (1 Jn 1:2): with our gaze fixed on Christ, ``the Word of life'' [29--30]	52	(3)
``The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation'' (Ex 15:2): life is always a good [31]	55	(2)
``The name of Jesus...has made this man strong'' (Acts 3:16): in the uncertainties of human life, Jesus brings life's meaning to fulfilment [32--33]	57	(3)
``Called...to be conformed to the image of his Son'' (Rom 8:28--29): God's glory shines on the face of man [34--36]	60	(6)
``Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die'' (Jn 11:26): the gift of eternal life [37--38]	66	(2)
``From man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting'' (Gen 9:5): reverence and love for every human life [39--41]	68	(5)
``Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it'' (Gen 1:28): man's responsibility for life [42--43]	73	(4)
``For you formed my inmost being'' (Ps 139:13): the dignity of the unborn child [44--45]	77	(4)
``I kept my faith even when I said, 'I am greatly afflicted''' (Ps 116:10): life in old age and at times of suffering [46--47]	81	(3)
``All who hold her fast will live'' (Bar 4:1): from the law of Sinai to the gift of the Spirit [48--49]	84	(4)
``They shall look on him whom they have pierced'' (Jn 19:37): the Gospel of life is brought to fulfilment on the tree of the Cross [50--51]	88	(4)
You Shall not Kill
God's Holy Law
``If you would enter life, keep the commandments'' (Mt 19:17): Gospel and commandment [52]	92	(2)
``From man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life'' (Gen 9:5): human life is sacred and inviolable [53--57]	94	(9)
``Your eyes beheld my unformed substance'' (Ps 139:16): the unspeakable crime of abortion [58--63]	103	(12)
``It is I who bring both death and life'' (Dt 32:39): the tragedy of euthanasia [64--67]	115	(9)
``We must obey God rather than men'' (Acts 5:29): civil law and the moral law [68--74]	124	(13)
``You shall love your neighbour as yourself'' (Lk 10:27): ``promote'' life [75--77]	137	(4)
You Did it to Me
For a New Culture of Human Life
``You are God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light'' (1 Pet 2:9): a people of life and for life [78--79]	141	(2)
``That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you'' (1 Jn 1:3): proclaiming the Gospel of life [80--82]	143	(5)
``I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made'' (Ps 139:14): celebrating the Gospel of life [83--86]	148	(6)
``What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works?'' (Jas 2:14): serving the Gospel of life [87--91]	154	(9)
``Your children will be like olive shoots around your table'' (Ps 128:3): the family as the ``sanctuary of life'' [92--94]	163	(5)
``Walk as children of light'' (Eph 5:8): bringing about a transformation of culture [95--100]	168	(11)
``We are writing this that our joy may be complete'' (1 Jn 1:4): the Gospel of life is for the whole of human society [101--102]	179	(3)
Conclusion	182	(1)
``A great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun'' (Rev 12:1): the motherhood of Mary and of the Church [103]	183	(2)
``And the dragon stood before the woman...that he might devour her child when she brought it forth'' (Rev 12:4): life menaced by the forces of evil [104]	185	(2)
``Death shall be no more'' (Rev 21:4): the splendour of the Resurrection [105]	187