Alan Keyes on the "Sanctity of Life"

On Sunday 8 Oct 2006 The World Apostolate of Fatima, U.S.A. sponsered an event called One World Praying for Life & Peace. This event took place at their shrine in Asbury, NJ. The purpose of the event was 1st & foremost to gather a group of people there as well as worldwide to pray for an end to abortion. But it was also an opportunity to hear some speakers on the importance of defending the unborn. 1 of the speakers was a young lady by the name of Gianna Jensen. She has an unique story. She is a survivor of an abortion. Her very presence is a testimony to what we would have been robbed of if the abortion had been successful, as well as a reminder of how many talented & gifted people abortion robbed us of.

1 of the main speakers was Alan Keyes Ph.D. Ambassador Keyes ran for President of the USA in 1996 & again in 2000. I 1st met him her in Dubuque during his 96 campaign. He impressed me greatly, esp with his understanding of the foundation of of country. He saw the seminal document of our country wasn't the Constitution but the Declaration of Independence. & that without understanding the principles contained in it we can't truly understand the constitution. At both the 96 & 2000 precinct caucuses I was a supporter for his candadicy. Naturally, it goes without saying that he is very strongly pro-life. That comes from the same reasons that I have. 1st of all from his deep held Roman Catholic Faith that teaches of the sactity of life. The other comes from the basis of the Declaration of Independence & thus the way our Constitution is supposed to function, natural law. The Constitution is ment to protect our "Unalienable Rights" mentioned in the Declaration, 1 of which is the right to life.

Dr. Keyes' talk was on the Worldwide Sanctity of Life. The talk was not a simple call to work for ending abortion, it was a challenge for us to look at our own lives & to be sure we are in a right relation with God. He talked about God's call to us. God is speaking His Word to us. We are to respect that word that He speaks in & through every life that is created.

But in our world today, we are turning our backs on that reality, because we want to define everything in our own terms--and if you can't touch it, see it, taste it, use it, then it doesn't exist. We wish to turn our backs on the wonders of the invisible God."

To restore respect for life we "must reclaim our awe before that invisible majesty, that concept of God that reminds us that even in the things that seem to us small and undetectable, yet there may reside the awesome power that has made the whole universe, that has set the stars in their place and the planets in their courses, that has raised up the mountains, and that commands the universe."

Each time we see a infant "we are actually confronting the will of Almighty God." & it is a challenge to us "that child--its cries in the night, its needs--represents to us an obligation to respect the word that God has spoken in the child's life."

Dr. Keyes went out to show how this is based in Scripture: "Before I formed thee, I knew thee." (Jeremiah 1:5) He goes on to point out that this is the true moment of conception for each & every human being. Our point of conception is when we were conceived in the Mind of God. "He prepares His manuscript in secret. He only publishes it in the womb."

He goes on to talk about the creation of man, "Male and female, He created them. In the image and likeness of God created He them." (Genesis 1:27) "Adam was an unfinished work. Humanity was not complete. . . . Through the creation of Eve, we come into that form that allows us truly to reflect the full and wholesome power of Almighty God: the power to bring life to life. . . . He built into us His own capacity to love and share the gift of life."

He then went on to call us back to understanding of the "significance of that male-female distinction" When we loose or forget this understanding "We begin the process that leads to murder in the womb and in the world when we turn our back on that understanding of ourselves which God wanted us never to forget." Simply, "He made us in His image." He goes on to show the consequences when Adam & Eve forgot that & then on how that still goes on to this day. We need to begin again to recognize that, as it says in the Bible, we are made in the image & likeness of God.

"See, I think that's the meaning of the pro-life movement, in all the forms that it takes. It's not a movement just about being against this evil and that evil. It comes from a heart that recognizes evil because it is in love with God, in love with His truth, in love with the generosity that He has shown to each and every one of us."

He goes on with a challenge to combat this evil. We start with prayer, but we don't stop there. He challenges us to check in our own lives if the things we are following up with the right actions in our lives.

"We pray to God for peace. Do we ask ourselves if we, ourselves, are the source of that peace?We pray to God for mercy and for love and compassion. Do we ask ourselves if we are the hand of compassion, the voice of compassion, the word of compassion to another in need?We pray to God for justice. Do we ask ourselves if we are the instruments of His equity, His fairness, His respect for the human whole?"

That involves involvement politically. "(T)hat the choice you make becomes the choices of your country; that the conscience you show becomes the conscience of your country; that the love you exhibit becomes the possibility of love in your community.That is not a form of government, that's a way of life!

That is not a form of government, that's a truth of our faith."

"We need to understand that as we come together today to lift up to God words of prayer, we must resolve to become the deeds of prayer, to make those words flesh, to offer ourselves to be His tools, to be His mouth, to be His courage in this world, showing forth in this darkness the light that He would share and that we pray to Him to share with all of humankind."

We need to be willing to put our lives on the line, figuratively & literally if needed. He points out that 1 of the ways we do this is when we reject the promises made by those promoting things like embryonic stem cell research. "And if we just kill this innocent life over here, if we just do that thing that God says is an abomination, then we can have all those wonderful things that they promise." He challenges us to follow Jesus' example. He rejected the empty promises of Satan. He points out how the promises these people make are just as empty.

Then he goes on to point out the call that each of us as followers of Christ have. It is a call we need to respond to & live out in the face of opposition. He goes on to point out that it will take courage to do that. But we can draw on the source of courage as we turn to God in prayer, seeking His strength, " to pray with the steps we take, to pray with the words of witness that we speak when it matters, and to do so with the courage that comes from knowing that beyond our crucifixion will come the resurrection of God's eternal life for us.

With that confidence, can we fail?

I think not.In that confidence can we live? With great abundance.

For, the life that is lived in the courage that disregards the one who can only kill our bodies, that remembers the one who can offer us ever-renewing life, that life is lived with the courage that will be rewarded, not by our own fruitfulness, but by the fruitfulness of our Lord--and then He'll be there at the end.

For, the life that is lived in the courage that disregards the one who can only kill our bodies, that remembers the one who can offer us ever-renewing life, that life is lived with the courage that will be rewarded, not by our own fruitfulness, but by the fruitfulness of our Lord--and then He'll be there at the end.

At what seems to us to be the end, we will find that darkness is light, we will find in that seeming loneliness His hand, and we'll feel it, and He'll lift us up, and we will know that we're not alone. And we'll hear Him talking, and not to us. He will introduce us, I think, by name--by a name that we may not recognize, because we haven't heard it before--by the true name, the name by which God calls us to Himself. And we will hear that name spoken by the voice of our Lord, and He will say to His Father, "This is the one I told you about. She is my sister. This is the one who fed me and clothed me, who fought for me and lifted me up, who opened my prison, unshackled my heart and helped me along the way. And he is my brother. And, Father, they have come home."

And home we shall truly know--not because we have been rich and powerful, not because we have won elections and presided over mighty businesses, but simply, as Mother Theresa reminded us, because in the ways we can, we have been faithful to the Lord. And in that faithfulness shall come the reward that cannot die, because it lives with God forever."

Are you up to the challenge?

Am I?

A difficult question & 1 I cannot answer just once for all time. It is a question I will have to answer again & again. Each of us will as we daily take up our cross & follow in the footsteps of Christ. May God grant us by the power of His Holy Spirit the grace to always respond to the challenge as He would have us.

A discussion of what Dr. Keyes had to say in this talk can be found at the RenewAmerica Forum: Procreation and the sanctity of life October 8, 2006 (This has a link to both an audio stream & video stream of the talk)