CELEBRATING THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

ON THE FEAST OF OUR LORD, THE GIVER OF LIFE

All life is sacred. Life is a precious gift from God. This precious gift was celebrated yesterday at the Cathedral of the King during the Feast of our Lord, the Giver of life. Donning black shirts with a statement “All Life Is Sacred”, in unity, the congregation made this Sunday a fitting declaration to the society and to the world of the value and sanctity of God’s breath of life in man – a gift He has bestowed upon mankind.

In his homily, Archbishop Hines showed the people something from the first reading (Genesis 1:26-28 -  “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness….”) that not many may have realized yet – that we were created in the fullness of God – in the image of the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We were created in excellence. This is the reason why He vested on man the full authority to rule over all creation. Because God knew that He has fully equipped man to handle the responsibility.

From the very beginning, God also blessed man to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.…” Filling the earth doesn’t only mean populating it; more importantly, it means bringing the fullness of God and manifesting His glory in all of creation. And we have been privileged to be given this task.

The Gospel reading from Matthew 18:1-5 speaks of how much God loves children. “Unless you become like a child, you shall not enter the kingdom.” It is a child’s innocence, the purity of his heart, his openness and humility that Jesus referred to when He said this. It doesn’t take much to please a child. A child is also naturally loving and affectionate. These are traits that are very pleasing to God and this is why He said, “Whoever receives one such child in My Name receives Me….”

The message of the Gospel underscores the sanctity of life. The Cathedral of the King and the entire Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC) continue to declare strongly that all life is sacred. Human life, created in the fullness of the Trinity, comes from God. It is He who gave man the ability to procreate, to bring life into this world. The life that we bring into existence does not belong to us, but to God. It is only He who can take it away.

Children are a blessing. The Bible tells us that when our quiver is full, we are blessed. We should not be anxious about how we can feed, educate and sustain our children because God’s blessings will flow thru them. Luke 12:22-23 “….do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” It isn’t the externalities that are important, but the body that God gave us. Life should be nurtured and cared for as the most precious gift from God because He invested His fullness in this body and His life is in us.

As a Church, the CEC through the Cathedral of the King has manifested its opposition to the RH bill. Rejecting children means rejecting God and His blessings upon our lives. Rejecting God means we have decided to do things our way, to set God aside while we do our own thing. As the Church, our task is to bring the system of the world under the authority of God. We are to bring to light the truth that when we obey God, He will provide all our needs. We uphold the sacredness of life. And we do this by celebrating the truth that God lives in us.