I received this from an college friend of mine, who happens to be my insurance agent now. I believe he read it in the pope’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae.
“Man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God. The loftiness of this supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and the inestimable value of human life even in its temporal phase. Life in time, in fact, is the fundamental condition, the initial stage and an integral part of the entire unified process of human existence. It is a process which unexpectedly and undeservedly is enlightened by the promise and renewed by the gift of divine life, which will reach its full realization in eternity (cf. 1John 3: 1-2). At the same time, it is precisely this supernatural calling which highlights the relative character of each individual’s earthly life. After all, life on earth is not an ‘ultimate’ but a ‘penultimate’ reality; even so, it remains a sacred reality entrusted to us, to be preserved with a sense of responsibility and brought to perfection in love and in the gift of ourselves to God and to our brothers and sisters.”
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II repeatedly emphasized the centrality of the human person, a person’s inestimable value in the sight of God, and divinization of humankind through the pursuit of Truth in our adoption as sons and daughters of God.
If only the world would listen and believe this!
