"Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift." These sound like the words of Pope John Paul II or a quote from Mother Teresa or Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen or one of the universal Church's saints, or a Doctor of the Church, or a high representative of the Curia. If not those, then those words most certainly had to have been spoken by one who has a deep and profound respect for the Sanctity of Life and upholds pro-life vigorously. But would you believe the person who said that is none other than the champion of pro-aborts Bill Clinton? That's right. He uttered those words Monday as he waxed so religiously on the occasion of the announcement that scientists have completed a rough draft of the map of the entire human genome. If only Clinton and his administration truly believed in the "beauty and wonders of God's most divine and sacred gift." For that gift is life and life, without a doubt, begins at conception. If had that conviction, then his words would have substance and impact; but coming from one in which insincerity is a staple, it rings hollow. Maybe he should read the Holy Father's most recent encyclical Fides et ratio.

    Maybe everyone involved with genome research should read it. Because His Holiness emphasized that science is incomplete without faith; he pointed out that science is doomed to failure without God. In the spirit of "a little knowledge can be dangerous" the red flag has gone up over the possibilities with human genome knowledge. There are those who are quite concerned that we could have the beginning of "Gattica" as scientists play God and begin to weed out "undesirables." That would include those who may be mentally retarded, or handicapped.

    Today, we begin a short two-part series on the Beatitudes in our on-going APPRECIATION OF THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH feature. Taken from Matthew 5: 1-12, Jesus extolls those who are the least on earth, "...for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." God created all in His image and likeness, but He also created all different in some way or another. For example, He created and places in our midst the Down's syndrome child to bring His other children into compassion and help them, while, at the same time, learning from their love and innocence. While in college I used to drive a school bus for Down's syndrome kids and it was so exhilarating. They seemed to be always smiling, not a care in the world, and they almost always were looking out for others. Isn't this what Our Lord asks in Wednesday's gospel when He asks Peter to "Feed My lambs...Feed My sheep"? All of us have a responsibility to "feed God's sheep" through our example first and foremost, and then through the gifts given us by the Holy Spirit. Whatever our talents, Christ expects us to use them and not hide them under a bushel basket. (cf. Matthew 5: 15). We also need to become like the Down's syndrome child in innocence and caring. Think about it, for the most part they are not tainted by worldly things, by the need to keep up with the Jones and other societal pressures we place on ourselves. Their world is that of a child and they are truly blessed. Our Lord reaffirms this in Matthew 18: 3, "Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven." In the very next verse He confirms the importance of the Beatitudes with, "Whoever, therefore, humbles himself as a little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven."

    In the very next verse He entreats us to accept all His children young and old, "And whoever receives one such little child for My sake, receives Me." His warning that follows should bring down the thunder, But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." You notice, He doesn't mince words. He goes on to make the consequences even clearer in verses 7-9. He commands us to look after the "lost sheep" - "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in Heaven always behold the face of My Father in Heaven" (Matthew 18: 10). He is talking here not just of those with Down's syndrome, not just little children literally, but all mankind with no distinction as to Catholic, Jew, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist; no distinction as to color; no distinction as to physical or mental traits. He is saying all His children. Since He is making no exceptions, scientists cannot make exceptions.

    Yet they do and there is a fear they will! They do because they do not treat the pre-born with the same respect and liberties that God affords them from conception until they breathe their last breath. Man has no right to dictate when life begins; only God. And man has no right to dictate when life ends; only God. This includes euthanasia and the fine-line of capital punishment. Yet capital punishment deals with a fraction of God's children; it deals with the Old Testament creed of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Those on death row are more often than not hardened criminals who are a threat to society. But there is even a greater threat to society and it is people who are in power who deny life. This includes the Clinton Administration from Bill to Hillary to Al Gore ad nauseum. All spout the pro-abort line while saccharinely waxing that "we have to do what's best for the children." You're not doing what's best for the children if you don't allow them to even become children!

    Now they have this newest tool - the human genome map. If it were printed out it would be such a tome that it would rise as tall as the Washington monument. How ironic. George Washington, an imperfect man with wooden teeth, was known for his integrity. In the hands of the wrong people, the human genome experiment will definitely become a type of "Gattica," a superior race mentality where only the best looking, or strongest, or smartest survive; where someone with "wooden teeth" or some kind of impediment that society deems unworthy, could be prejudiced greatly against, possibly removed. This isn't what Jesus intended. We are not God. While it can go to great lengths to hopefully someday eradicate cancer and other diseases, the idea of man living longer, of replicating organs, of being totally healthy all the time flies in the face of God's call to "carry our cross." Illnesses, both physical and mental, are crosses He gives us. To take those crosses away would not only deprive us of graces, our opportunity to repay Him for His ultimate sacrifice and fulfill His call in the Gospels, as well as live the beatitudes, but change our attitudes toward the less fortunate, dull our senses. It's been going on for many decades now. Our senses are dulled. Look around. Fifty, forty, even thirty years ago we would have been shocked by many of the things that are accepted in society today. But today it seems so common place that we accept it like robot sheep without looking to see who is the shepherd. Is that shepherd leading us up the rough, narrow path toward Heaven? Or is the shepherd a wolf in sheep's clothing that has been deceiving us in coaxing us onto the wide path to hell? Oh, the devil is clever. He mocks God in everything and that includes using God's name and praising Him indirectly, all the while coaxing us closer to the edge of the abyss. Now he has his clutches on man through the human genome experiment, urging us that we can be like God through the marvel of genetics and control our own destiny. Christ saw through his charade in Matthew 4: 1-11 and Luke 4: 1-13. Will we?

    If Clinton were only sincere in his "awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift" we would be heartened and applaud him, but his actions speak louder than words. He continued to wax theologically, "With this profound new knowledge, humankind is on the verge of gaining immense new power to heal." Remember Christ's words in Luke 4: 25 "Physician, heal thyself"? How can we heal when the wound of abortion is so gaping and deadly? See Dr. Frank Joseph's excellent expose of the lies in his Pro-Life Prescriptions column today Abortion vs. Childbirth in which he proves statistics don't lie. Clinton concluded his remarks saying, "Genome science will have a real impact on all our lives - and even more on the lives of the children." Yes, but what kind of impact? Remember, to paraphrase his better half: "It takes a villain!" And we all know who is the main culprit. There behavior replicates the modus operandi of the prince of darkness. Why is it the pro-aborts have such a passion to make life better for all, but ignore God's little ones?

    Why is it they extoll life when we learn from death far greater. Saint Francis of Assisi placed it on our hearts: "For it is in dying, that we are born" and it was the Messiah, the Son of God Who died in order that we might live. And this Thursday we celebrate the Feast of two of the greatest martyrs of the Church - Saints Peter and Paul. We can only pray that those in the Clinton administration and pro-aborts everywhere will experience the same conversion Saul did. "Why do you persecute Me?" the innocent unborns cry out! We cannot turn our backs on them for the sake of compromise. If we do, we are turning our backs on God. In John 6: 69, Peter, when confronted by Christ if he, too, would turn away, responded "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of everlasting life..." We must remember that, amidst all the talk of a greater race, disease-free society and extended life, we could easily forget Peter's commitment and abandon our God-given crosses. Yes, whatever direction human genome science is taking us, no matter what wonders in medicine lie ahead, we must take care not to leave our cross in splinters! That would only be kindling for satan!

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