A richer and deeper appreciation of the astonishing, miraculous nature not only of human life but of the entire universe itself can’t help but counter the self-centred, pro-death mentality that is strangling Western society, says the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s pro-life chaplain.
The universe didn’t come into existence by accident, Father Larry Lynn said in a speech to the Life Compass Society. Even for those who believe it did, no science can explain how life actually began or how humans came into existence.
“I don’t think that it is an accident that God created this whole thing, and his crowning achievement is the human being,” he said. “Life is such an astonishing thing. It’s kind of mind-boggling, actually … It’s crazy to think it’s an accident.”
Father Lynn, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Coquitlam, said there are good reasons to hope that the “society-destroying” modern, materialistic, and utilitarian mentality that has entrenched abortion and euthanasia as near-sacred doctrines, is waning.
“There’s change in the air,” Father Lynn told about 25 people attending Life Compass’s annual general meeting Nov. 16 at St. Clare of Assisi Parish Centre in Coquitlam.
He cited the election of a U.S. president who, despite his personal faults, supports pro-life policies, and the rejection of a presidential candidate whose party backed a radical anti-life agenda.
Closer to home, Father Lynn lauded the development of the Respect for Life curriculum for Catholic schools, the launching of life clubs at Catholic secondary schools, the work of crisis-pregnancy centres such as Coquitlam’s Pregnancy Concerns, the annual March for Life, Life Compass’s annual transit-ad campaign, and the work of Abbotsford-based Advokate Life & Education Services.
“There is great hope, it’s palpable,” Father Lynn said. “And it’s a welcome change … in a world gone awry.”
At a deeper level, he said he hopes atheists and agnostics can open their eyes to the utter miracle of creation, and in doing so begin to recognize “the transcendence in their own lives.”
This, in turn, cannot help but open their eyes to the preciousness of all human life.
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