Pro Vita Week
The idea of Pro Vita Week was born out of a desire to increase understanding of issues relating to the sanctity of human life and better prepare our students to meet the cultural challenges that diminish or degrade life. By using a multi-disciplinary approach and allowing enough classroom time to address at least some of the complexities inherent in these issues, it is hoped that students will grow in knowledge of life principles, and in their desire to act on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society. Additionally, by engaging students in all subject areas, a strong message is sent that affirming the dignity and value of the human person informs our entire educational process and is, in fact, at the very heart of our mission. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) calls us to share this good news:
The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as “good news” to the people of every age and culture…When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). In truth, he is referring to that “new” and “eternal” life which consists in communion with the Father, to which every person is freely called in the Son by the power of the Sanctifying Spirit. It is precisely in this “life” that all the aspects and stages of human life achieve their full significance (Introduction to the Gospel of Life).
It is our duty, as Catholic school educators, to help our students find the very deepest meaning and significance of their lives during their time with us. In order to do this, we should also be aware of the cultural influences working against us. Father Spitzer, in Healing the Culture, brings those influences into focus:
Today’s youth are performing a balancing act that cannot be sustained in the long term. If we are to give them a fighting chance for cultural survival and a legacy that will point the way to what is pervasive, enduring and deep, we will have to recover the reality of the intangibles. We will not only have consciously to reflect upon and correct our implicit materialism, we will also have to correct all of the ethical and legal oversights that have arisen out of it. We can no longer afford to remain metaphysically innocent, and we cannot allow the negative ethical and political residuals from that ‘innocence’ to be a part of our cultural legacy (p.27).
Ultimately, it is hoped that Pro Vita week will be a step toward providing our students with tools for dismantling the destructive effects of materialism, for helping them gain “metaphysical maturity” and for building a life-affirming culture.
Pro Vita Resources: