The Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the USCCB is profoundly grateful to Msgr. James P. Moroney for preparing the following reflection. Msgr. Moroney is rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Worcester, MA, serves on the faculty of St. John's Seminary, and is executive secretary of the Vox Clara Committee.

REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL (Luke 17:5-10): I remember the first time I joined those praying at an abortion clinic. I patted myself on the back so many times I think I pulled a muscle. And yet did I do enough? I think of those who write letters day and night to anti-life politicians, of those who patiently sit and counsel new mothers, of those who pray for hours on end for those who have chosen abortion and for their children, of those who volunteer to work in homes for homeless and expectant mothers. All of these people, who do so much more than I did. And yet none of us, even those most dedicated to the cause of life, is doing more than simply what God has asked us to do: to seek him out in the least of our brothers and sisters and to love, protect and nurture him. For whatever we do for these least of our brothers, we do for him.

In effect, the absolute inviolability of innocent human life is a moral truth clearly taught by Sacred Scripture, constantly upheld in the Church's Tradition and consistently proposed by her Magisterium. This consistent teaching is the evident result of that ‘supernatural sense of the faith' which, inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit, safeguards the People of God from error when ‘it shows universal agreement in matters of faith and morals'.

Faced with the progressive weakening in individual consciences and in society of the sense of the absolute and grave moral illicitness of the direct taking of all innocent human life, especially at its beginning and at its end, the Church's Magisterium has spoken out with increasing frequency in defence of the sacredness and inviolability of human life. The Papal Magisterium, particularly insistent in this regard, has always been seconded by that of the Bishops, with numerous and comprehensive doctrinal and pastoral documents issued either by Episcopal Conferences or by individual Bishops. The Second Vatican Council also addressed the matter forcefully, in a brief but incisive passage. (The Gospel of Life [Evangelium Vitae], no. 57).

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