In his infinite love for us God has given us life. The nearer we draw to him the more we appreciate it. The more we separate ourselves from Him, the less we esteem it, especially when others are concerned. The fifth Commandment not only forbids us from taking away human life but also obliges us to take care of it.

In today’s world, where human life is not always given its real value, there is an urgency to educate society positively in the culture of life. This education must be imparted first and foremost to the young so that they can look upon life as a gift from God who has given it to us gratuitously and will take it back when he wants to change it into an eternal and joyful one in heaven for ever.

Thank God, medicine itself has improved greatly. Notwithstanding this, in some cases medicine lends itself to carry out acts against human life itself, when by its very nature it should tend to its defence and care.

Classical examples of such acts are abortion and euthanasia. These are typical expressions of the culture of death. In such cases the supposed life-saving medical agent turns into a murderer. The vow to do their utmost to save life, expressed at the beginning of their medical profession in the form of the Hippocratic Oath, will completely be ignored. Sometimes there are battles to save the life of those sentenced to death and also to safeguard the right to life of those who have committed serious crimes, while the death of innocents in their mother’s womb is considered legal, with laws approved in civil (sic!) parliaments.

But we must not overlook another form of death: that due to hunger. A considerable number of people, especially in developing countries, are literally dying from hunger. They need our help and need it urgently. Of course, charity begins at home but we must not fall into the temptation of not helping others due to some excuse. All of us must feel it our duty to help these impoverished brethren the best we can. Perhaps these deaths do not make news because we have got used to them, or if they make, we have become insensitive to them.

The culture of life depicts human life as sacred and urges us to safeguard it from conception to natural death. Gift of Life should be supported by one and all, especially by all our MPs, in its efforts to have human life protected throughout as an entrenched clause in our Constitution.