Human life is sacred. For many of us, we can agree to the dignity and sacredness of life created by God in large-scale situations. We know that the horrific murder of children while they are in their classrooms is wrong. We know that the genocide of millions of Jewish people in Europe was wrong. 

 

Where it gets harder is drawing lines in our own, messy lives. As just one example, what if the intense suffering of my dying parent could be ended by assisting in his or her suicide? What if this assisted suicide were legal? Would that not be the merciful course of action? Shouldn’t my parent have the freedom to decide his or her own manner of death? 

 

Our Church teaches that causing the death of another human being is intrinsically evil no matter the motivation and no matter if assisted suicide is civilly legal. Assisted suicide is contrary to the dignity and respect due to human life. Palliative care, instead, can ease our parent’s pain if death is not willed even if it is inevitable. The Church also teaches that the right to life supports and thus trumps all other rights, including freedom. 

 

During difficult times, teachings of our faith can give us direction and eventually peace. Yet we are challenged because life is so often not black and white; nor is it kind. Sometimes to be merciful or tolerant or in weakness or sin, we get it so sadly wrong. 

 

Thank God for our God of second chances, for our God who forgives us and leads us to forgiving ourselves and others through the sacrament of confession. Thank God for the Church that Christ founded. The Church guides us in these decisions so that we can try to live a rightly ordered, righteous life. 

 

It is my hope that through this new column in The Observer we can walk with each other in the journey of trying to live rightly ordered lives in keeping with the teachings of the Church on human life and relationship. As the new director of the Rockford Diocese’s Life and Family Evangelization Office, I am tasked with sharing how we can all be witnesses to the sacredness and dignity of human life and love. 

 

This witness is based on some beautiful truths of our faith. Because we have received the gift of life, we have the responsibility to protect and nurture life at every stage. As part of the human family, we have the responsibility to protect and reveal love. If we are blessed with marriage, we have the mission to live this marriage as a sign of God’s love. 

 

When we bring our Catholic faith to bear during the trials in our lives, we make this witness. We do this in both quiet and public ways: when as a newlywed we learn to fight without name calling; when as a parent we sacrifice our own career plans for the sake of our family; when as an unexpected, unmarried father we counsel the mother to keep the baby; when as a faithful citizen we advocate for laws that uphold the sacredness of life; and when filled with rage, we resist the urge to call for the killer to be condemned to death. 

 

Making choices guided by the teachings of the Church is vital to our life on earth and the repose of our souls for eternity. In these moments, may we each choose to be a witness for life!