Jakubczyk on Life

Transitions 2005 -2006

As you read this message 2005 is just about history and 2006, a year of hope and promise, will be opening at our door. So what are we to say about the last year as we look forward to the next? Rather than do the conventional list of events and achievements regarding ARTL and our promotion of the Culture of Life, allow me to reflect on some recent happenings of a serious and personal nature that tie into events of this year and our need to remain vigilant to the work of protecting every human person.

I visited an old man who was dying and spoke to him about some very important matters. Here in a hospital room he lay, his wrinkled skin bruised and battered from the years and the disease. As I entered the room, at first he was quiet, as if sleeping. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me. The clear light of life flashed as he spoke. He said he was going and he was ready. He told me he had seen Jesus and asked me if I thought he was crazy. The old man told me that he was listening to Him and the Voice was very calm and assuring. He expressed his love for his wife and children, mentioned his regrets and asked me to take care of things. Then he looked beyond me and as if to acknowledge someone else in the room, began to speak almost silently in conversation. The intensity of his look and the reaction of his face reflected a person in deep communion with another. I looked around and noticed a bed being pushed along with three persons walking along side.

Then it struck me. The hospital, the equipment, the people, all represented our understanding of what it means to live in a Culture of Life. Everything done to show respect to the individual human person by caring for the needs of the person even in the final moments of his life, remind us that life is sacred. How is it that we forget when it is all around us? How is it that we allow for the weakness of our human nature to rob us of our inheritance and blind us to the good being done everywhere in our presence?

At Arizona Right to Life, every day we promote the truth that life is good, that life is beautiful and that life is worth living. Whether we speak about the unborn child or the elderly person in the coma or the wheelchair, we speak to the inherent dignity that resides in us all. This coming year we have a lot of work to do and I will be asking you all to respond to the call of duty as we seek to build a Culture of Life.

I think back to the ways in which society as a whole can either be supportive or callaused or conflicted on this "life" issue. When we were rallying for any kind of protection for Terri Schiavo, those who knew the story for the most part were sympathetic to the family and wondered why Michael Schiavo would not let the parents care for theri daughter. Those who did not want to know, said it was a family matter. Then there were those who wanted her dead. They wanted her to starve or die of thirst. I looked for those people during the Katrina disaster, when people were without food and water for a day, or two days, or three days. I listened to reporters condemn the governmment, FEMA, the state, the Red Crossm because people did not have water to drink.

Yet Terri was denied water for 14 days. And a little boy was arrested when he tried to bring her a bottle of water. And the flower in her room was watered evry day.

It was not a good day in America when we as a country through the courts killed Terri Schiavo by starvation and dehyration.

A few days later another man died. He lived in visible pain the last few yeaars and the people all saw him in pain. Experts all asked why he did not resign. But Pope John Paul II was teaching the world an object lession on the dignity of the human person - even the person wracked with pain. He espoused the gift of life. He promoted the gift of self. He told us to be gift for others. Unflinching in his love for the human person and committed to the right to life aof all including the unborn child, pope John Paul was a champion for all of us and a crusader for the protection of innocent human life. We should live our lives with such intensity and love.


Thank you for being friends to Arizona Right to Life in 2005. We hope that we have been good stewards and have made a difference for those who need our presence in the world. Your sacrificial donations helped up to stand in the gap. Children are alive today because you care.

This year together let us rise to call and stand up for life. Pray about what you could do to really make a difference. Think about what AZRTL can do in your community to help others embrace the cause of the right to life. Mark your calendars for the Rally on January 22, 2006 and the Gala dinner on February 24, 2006. Join us for another year of adventure as we increase our presence in the state and promote the right to life. Remember there are elections and AZRTL must be there to educate the voters on the life issues. We will need your time, your talent and your treasure.

From all of us at Arizona Right to Life, Happy New Year. May God bless you and may God bless America.

posted by Jakubczyk on Life @ 4:33 PM