There are unique and extraordinary encounters which impact our lives. These encounters cause us to rethink life’s challenges — They are transformative moments, peak moments, qualitative moments, moments which endure a lifetime.
As the story goes, it happened to a young, highly intelligent, self-assured student from the University of Paris more than 100 years ago. He was greatly influenced by the technology of the day and the varying contemporary philosophical polemics, which called into question all he believed as a child. He accepted them most readily, giving them little scrutiny. For this particular student, like most of his “learned” contemporaries living in 19th century France, this was a time to question, a time for experimentation; casting out the old and embracing the new more enlightened dawn, or at least that is what he thought until he met an elderly gentleman on a train traveling to a village outside Paris.
The young student carried his books proudly, like a badge of honor. He was after all an intellectual elitist, absorbed in academic discourse which scrutinized the thinking and beliefs of the past. So, with great self-assurance he sat across from a man, who was bent over from age. The lines on the old man’s face revealed a lifetime of hard work and the usual public scrutiny, which life invariably incurs. There did not seem anything extraordinary, unusual or surprising about him, except for one thing — the elderly gentleman was praying the rosary. The student took the opportunity to challenge the old man and asked: “Messieurs, what are you doing there? Don’t you know that we have moved far beyond superstition to a world transformed by rational thought, contemporary philosophy, science and technology? The old man looked curiously at the student and smiled.
Intending to justify his intellectual superiority, the young man condescendingly said to him: “Here, I will lend you these books of mine which I’m sure will help you understand the challenges and complexities of a new world-view of thought and science, rather than old wives’ tales and superstitious beliefs, like what you are doing with those beads of yours — truly, a waste of time and effort. Faith has no place in the real world.” The old man eagerly took the books the student gave him. He said to the young man: “Thank you, my boy, for the books. Here is my card. Please call on me so that we might discuss them together.” The young man hastily slipped the card into his pocket and each went his own way.
After a day or two, the student remembered the card the old man had given him. He pulled the card out from his pocket and to his great astonishment read the name — Louis Pasteur. The young man was both stunned and humbled. On the train that fateful day he had encountered a true scholar, a major contributor to human thought and progress. Pasteur had lectured for years in the sciences at many prestigious universities. He introduced the process of pasteurization, which was named after him and initiated the practice of food sterilization into the normal day to day life of hospitals, doctors and nurses throughout the world. He was the man who discovered cures for rabies and anthrax and who proved and isolated the deadly effects of viruses and bacteria. He was a unique and learned man who received multiple accolades and awards from various academic and scientific communities. The young man slumped into his chair and thought to himself, “O Mon Dieu!” “O my God, this old man was none other than the brilliant and incomparable Louis Pasteur — a true, tried and tested man of science, who also happens to be a man of FAITH, who prays the rosary and listened patiently to my foolish admonitions and tirades. How wrong could I have been?”
The young student was truly humbled and rethought the meaning of his life in light of this one momentous encounter with an elderly gentleman who seemed quite ordinary, unassuming and who sat quietly praying the rosary on a train destined for an obscure town. The young man could not wait to meet him again, to shake his hand, to learn from his academic excellence and the achievement of a brilliant career. Eventually he became one of Pasteur’s fiercest and most devoted assistants and yes, rediscovering his faith in God, prayed the rosary and celebrated the beauty of life.
Now, imagine yourself on the shores of a sparkling, crystal lake and as you walk on, you encounter a vast crowd of people listening intently to one, who at first glance, appears quite ordinary. Should you stop and listen or simply move on? But you are curious and decide to stay. You are drawn into his message, his countenance, his simplicity — you are transfixed by his words, drawn into the circle of his friendship; your body, mind and soul tingle with excitement; enlivened and enlightened by what you hear and see. “Who is this man?” He is none other than the son of a carpenter — Jesus, Jesus from Nazareth.
Think back to when you first encountered Jesus, when he touched your life, the day when you were born anew — the very moment when you embraced him as your Lord and Savior. Do you remember that day? Do you recall that moment, when you bonded with the Son of God and handed over your life to Him, becoming His friend, His lifelong companion, His protégée, His disciple! That was the instant when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you were invested with the mantle of his cross and to this very day carry within your heart His promise of life everlasting; a day of awakening, a day to remember and celebrate!
It is quite miraculous — the impact one encounter can have, sustaining us throughout life’s journey. Our unjust judgements, our arrogance, our prejudices, our pride, our greed, our lust, our desires, our waywardness, our envy, our selfishness, our sinfulness all melt away when we encounter the Son of God, who gently touches our lives, inviting us into the circle of His fold. The world in which we live is not so different from the world of 100 or even 2000 years ago. Like in the past, contrary voices persist and speak to us, confuse us, divide us, causing tension and disruption within and without. We believe we know better and so take the road traveled by most — the easy road, which we think is free of conflict, stress and difficulty. That road is simply an illusion. This becomes quite evident when one examines the ultimate issues and questions regarding human life. Such issues confound, divide and alienate us: abortion, euthanasia, birth control, the death penalty, mercy killing, cloning and genetic manipulation, to name a few.
Yet, every Catholic and I dare say most people are familiar with the Catholic Church’s teachings on the primacy of human life. Yes, they are hard issues, which demand a firm response from those of us who profess faith in the Word and Sacrament who dwells in our midst. We can get caught up in the debate, even swayed at times by what seems like cogent arguments to support the termination of a pregnancy. This is the bottom line: Abortion, the compromising of human life at every stage of its development is always contrary to the will of God, a grievous and heinous sin. Life, like love, perpetuates itself. Love in its fullness begets love as life in its fullness begets life. To contradict this is a betrayal of its truth, beauty and goodness.
Like the student who sat on a train destined to meet one of the great contributors to the welfare of humankind, we too come to realize that, when all is said and done, it is not a matter of logic, or science, or rational discourse or self-justification; but rather it all boils down to a matter of the heart, a matter which lies within the mystery of Faith — the paradoxical relationship between life and death, cross and resurrection, which Saint Paul describes as a stumbling block to the learned and the wise of this world. The sacredness of human life is what I choose, because I can do no other. There is no substitute for any one single human life as it naturally elaborates and defines itself from conception to natural death, realizing its greatest potential: uniqueness, value, power, beauty, dignity and the glorious reflection of the face of the Creator. In the final analysis, children must never be sacrificed because of the sins of their parents.
We profess our faith in the Creator God, the Lordship of Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit — abundant life. Our sacred task is to protect vigorously and sustain absolutely biological life, physical life, emotional life, spiritual life with all its varied and unique properties, qualities and distinctions. What circumstance or manner of thought can rightly justify doing otherwise? How can one willfully abort and destroy what God has ordained to grow and become a living, breathing and unrepeatable miracle?
When in doubt or in conflict reach into the recesses of your heart, for there you will find God’s calling card to do the right thing, to be upright and rightly in tune with His grace. Every moment of each day, God sits quietly and lovingly beside us, as shepherd and Savior. Celebrate God’s life growing in you and in others — all those born into this world and all who are yet to be born. Protect, defend and nurture human life from conception to natural death without condition or reservation. As love begets love — so too, life begets life. Be true to your call as a disciple of Christ; following Him in all things, rendering thanks for the gift of life — the gateway to that singular, sacred encounter which transforms, heals and unites. Clothe yourself in the majestic mantle of life and, as the prophet writes, “Walk humbly with your God.”
Father Douglas J. Spina, Ph.D. is pastor of
St. Mary Church, West Warwick.
