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The Time to Defend Life is Now
 A message from Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais
Modern physicists speak of the'butterfly effect'. By this they mean that the flutter of a butterfly's wings in Mexico can affect the weather in New York and in fact the repercussions may be felt throughout the universe.
The evangelist John saw a similar relationship between the crucified Christ and his Church. He tells us that before Jesus died the soldiers cast lost for his garment so they would not have to tear it since"the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top" (John 19:23). The late Joseph Cardinal Bernadin used the seamless garment as an image for a unified or consistent ehtic of life. By this he reminded us that respect for life has to be the same from the womb to the tomb.
Pope John Paul II used this same concept when he spoke of a consistent ethic of life opposed to a "culture of death." According to him the culture of death is one in which...the powerful predominate, setting aside and even eliminating the powerless...unborn children, helpless victims of abortion; the elderly and incurably ill, subjected at times to euthanasia; and the many other people relegated to the margins of society by consumerism and materialism.
In contrast to the culture of death he spoke of a culture of life. This is the challenge facing us today in Canada. How do we promote a culture of life? We need to recognize that our politicians are only putting into law what our society believes and accepts. If we want just laws then we need to change the hearts of our people. But first we need to change our own hearts and to realize that every thing we do, every word we speak has repercussions through the whole fabric of our society.
Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI recently published his first encyclical entitled 'Deus Caritas Est'. In this document he reminds us that God is Love and thus we, as disciples of Jesus, need to love each other with the love that Jesus loved us and that love was revealed on the cross.
Sincerely yours in Christ our Lord,
Marcel Gervais
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