Cain, Abel, Euthanasia, and Abortion (Chapter 4, Question 1)

Well, here I am, once again writing another blog post. I hope you enjoyed my two previous posts on St. Therese of Lisieux and the Guardian Angel prayer.

This evening I would like to touch on two of the top most serious issues in the world today which have to do the value and the dignity of human life. These issues and rather sensitive subjects are none other than euthanasia and abortion. Since, the title of my blog does mean beautiful truth which has to do with God's Word, please allow me to reach back into history - Biblical history.

In the beginning, that is in Genesis 4, we read the story of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. The two brothers each offered a sacrifice to God. "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought some of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions." (Gen. 4:3-4) God had regard for Abel's offering, but not for that of his brother. At the end of Gen. 4, Cain murders his brother Abel. God, in his wrath, punishes Cain severely by banishing him from the land and his descendants were caught up in sin and violence.

Now, you might ask, why did God punish Cain so severely for murdering his brother? Due to much pondering, I came up with an answer/opinion. There are seven deadly sins (also called the Cardinal Sins): lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Cain first fell into sin when he was envious of his brother. Envy led Cain to murder Abel. He also broke the sixth Commandment, "Thou shall not kill". He committed a mortal sin.

When a human being commits a mortal sin, there are serious consequences; not just in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of God as well. When we commit mortal sin we lose sanctifying grace and are separated from God. Cain was separated from God when he murdered Abel. And he was sent to the land of Nod. You might say that we are offered the sacrament of reconciliation where we confess our sin and are completely forgiven. Why wasn't Cain offered this chance? He was. God asked him where Abel was. God, who sees and knows everything, knew perfectly well where Abel was, but he offered Cain the chance to admit his wrongdoing (just as he had offered Adam and Eve). But Cain lied to God and didn't admit his sin. Notice the resemblance between Cain and his parents. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. (That was a lousy attempt at a pun.)

Cain has a long line of descendants who all fall into sin. Lamech is a major figure in the line. He is the first one in the record to have two wives (polygamy) and he doesn't even love them as people. He treats them as objects. He kills other men out of revenge and with no respect for the fact that they are created in God's image and likeness.

This brings me to the two serious issues I mentioned in the beginning of this post. The world has little respect for the dignity and value of human lives. This is sort of off on a tangent, but I took a class from Fr. Francis (a Norbertine priest that some of you may know) for three years. He drilled into our heads just this:

"My human dignity consists in five things: God the Father created me in his image, God the Son redeemed me, God the Holy Spirit sanctified me, and God called me to be a member of his Church. My human dignity consists in doing what is morally good."

I think that if more people followed this way of thinking they would have more respect for themselves as well as for other people. Professor Barber has told us several times (and he is absolutely correct), "God is willing for you to be existing and sitting in this room right now. If he didn't will you to exist, you would vanish." What right do we, as merely human beings, who wouldn't even be here if he didn't will us to, have to take away a human life. That is not our job to be taking a way someone else's precious life. When we do via euthanasia and abortion we are taking away someone's life a.k.a. murdering a human being who was made in God's image and likeness. They, like us, are part of God's family. God has sent each one of us here for a purpose; he has a very special plan for you, me, everyone. "We are on a mission from God!"

Remember what happened to Cain when he murdered his brother. He was banished from the land. If we commit murder, we too will be banished from the land, from God's land. We will be banished from his eternal kingdom and will be consumed in pain and suffering.

We all have fallen natures, but nevertheless, we should strive to be perfect as God is perfect and conform ourselves to his will. If we do this, there is less of a likelihood for us to fall into sin.