Monday of the Sixth
Week of Easter
(Acts 16:11-15; John 15:26-16:4a)
The Catholic Church bases its health care ethics on the human
person’s innate dignity from conception until natural death. It exhorts medical professionals to honor
this dignity by refusing to take part in abortion, assisted suicide and other
contradictory procedures. In doing so, the
Church has been criticized. Doctors who refuse
to render death-dealing services have also been threatened with censure. Jesus warns of such developments in today’s
gospel.
He is telling his disciples to expect persecution because
they follow his teaching. He has
specifically in mind the harassment of Christians for seeing himself as the Son
of God. But with the coming of the
Spirit to complete his teaching, Jesus would include other doctrines.
Much of Catholic health care ethics is derived from
natural law and not from explicitly gospel sources. Nevertheless, Catholics will have to abide by
it even if it means not practicing medicine because of state persecution. However, we pray that society comes to
recognize the truth of natural law morality.
We pray as well that it honors the freedom of citizens to practice their
respective religious beliefs.
