"Life is a gift which is not completely at the disposal of the subject."
- Pope Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace 2007 Message

Amen to that! I wonder how long it will take for people to realize that the life they have was given to them to fully and without reserve give themselves away!

This gift of our own lives demands a contrary gift; ourselves back to the One who created us. Doing anything else actually demeans the gift given to us, an act that purposely undermines the reason for our existence and sets in motion that idea that our status as human beings depends on how much good we can or cannot do for the rest of society.

This, ultimately, is why the Holy Father tells us that the priority of respecting the right to life is the indispensible condition for peace in the world. Hold the bar high, he is saying. Without this respect for all human life, we cannot fully ensure that all human life will be protected. Some life will inevitably fall into the category of "worthless" or "unproductive" and people will start looking for ways to marginalize or even to eliminate that life.

This is a "principle of decisive importance" that must be lived to the full.