Everyone knows there is darkness in our lives, in our world. Violence of all kinds threatens life: in our homes, in our cities, in nations near and far. "Violence has many faces: oppression of the poor, deprivation of basic human rights, economic exploitation, sexual exploitation and pornography, neglect or abuse of the aged and the helpless, and innumerable other acts of inhumanity. Abortion in particular blunts a sense of the sacredness of human life."

A moral vision that holds together these many different issues and offers not only direction for action but also energy and hope is the consistent ethic of life. It is a comprehensive ethical system that links together many different issues by focusing attention on the basic value of life.

(Late)Pope John Paul II's encyclical The Gospel of Life is a bold and prophetic defense of life. Although it does not use the phrase, The Gospel of Life strongly affirms the consistent ethic of life. John Paul describes what is going on in our world today: a monumental abuse of life through drugs, war and arms, abortion, euthanasia, destruction of the environment, unjust distribution of resources. This abuse is often caused and supported by the economic, social and political structures of the nations. So the pope speaks of a "structure of sin" and a "culture of death" and a "conspiracy against life" (#12).

The pope also proclaims the Christian understanding of the value of life. Created in God's image, redeemed by Jesus, called to everlasting life, every human being is sacred and social; every human being is a sign of God's love.

The consistent ethic of life is ultimately rooted in Jesus, in whom the meaning and value of life are definitively proclaimed and fully given. In John Paul II's words, "The gospel of life is not simply a reflection, however new and profound, on human life. Nor is it merely a commandment aimed at raising awareness and bringing about significant changes in society. Still less is it an illusory promise of a better future. The gospel of life is something concrete and personal, for it consists in the proclamation of the very person of Jesus" (#29).

Who is this Jesus? He is Jesus who was sensitive to the vulnerable at all stages and from every walk of life. In being so, he often was at odds with society's standards, associating with religious and social outcasts. This is the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount who proclaims as blessed not the leaders of society but the mourning and the meek, the poor and the pure, the persecuted and the peacemaker (Mt 5:1-12).

This is the Jesus who praises not power but reconciliation in the story about the forgiving father of the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32). This is the Jesus of faithful ministry, of suffering and death, of new life (Mk 14:3—16:8). This is the Jesus who says, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Who Jesus is and what Jesus means by abundant life, then, are surely different from what the consumerism and individualism of our culture tell us about life.