What does it mean to be pro-life? 
 Does pro-life just end with abortion? 
 All life is valuable?  All of it? 
 So even criminals?  Like people 
who kill people?  Their life is valuable, too?   
This past year, I've come to know an amazing human being. 
His name is Dominic Pio, he's one year old and 
he was born with a large part of his brain outside of his  skull. 
During the pregnancy, his parents were told to 
abort the child because there were so many problems, 
but they chose life for their child. 
 Dominic Pio, after a few 
surgeries, is actually doing very well. 
He has inspired and moved so many people by 
his suffering and the courageous choice of his parents. 
Dominic Pio reminds me that every single human 
person has been created in the image and likeness of God 
and if of absolute value. 
 We know that in Genesis when God creates the world, 
He concludes every day with the 
amazing statement, "and God saw that it was Good."
He makes man and woman as the crowning
 of His creation, as those made in His image and likeness. 
And so for us, all of life is sacred - every single life. 
As humans, at times, we're tempted to
 discriminate or to categorize people and say, 
"These people are important. These people aren't."
The Catholic Church proclaims the dignity of life 
from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. 
And so, to offer support to a woman 
who finds herself in crisis pregnancy, 
to visit prisoners, to work at a soup kitchen, 
to stand up for the life and 
dignity of people that live with disabilities. 
To be the person who acts out the Gospel of 
life by looking at every single person in the world 
as someone made in the image and likeness of God. 
Someone who loves and desires to be loved. 
Mother Teresa went to the darkest corners 
of the world and found people that society had rejected. 
The first person she picked up was a man 
in the gutter of Calcutta - abandoned by his family. 
Half-eaten by rats, filled with worms and lice, 
she lovingly picked him up and took 
him to the hospital and held him until he died. 
His last question to her, his eyes filled 
with puzzlement, was, "why are you doing this?" 
Her answer was stunning and simple: 
"Because I love you. Because I love Jesus." 
When we look at every person in 
the world, even the tiniest, the most fragile, 
those who no longer can work, the unemployed, 
the disabled, the elderly - doesn't matter. 
Every single person has been made in the image 
and likeness of God and therefore all of life is sacred for us. 
We believe in the fifth commandment, "Thou shall not kill." 
God puts a limit to us taking another 
human life, but there's more to it than that. 
We can kill others through our indifference, through 
our prejudice, by remaining silent in the face of  injustice. 
By neglecting the needs of those around us. 
So, a positive way to re-frame the commandment is to say, 
we are called to affirm, respect, and build up all life - 
that every person is made in the image and likeness of 
God and therefore we venerate them, we love them. 
Everyone is my sister, my brother, made in the image and likeness of God, 
called to an eternal destiny of union with the Father. 
It's the Year of Faith and we're connecting 
Christ and the Catechism of the Catholic Church! 
Ignite your faith! 
Share this video with a friend and 
spark-up a spirited conversation today! 
So what's the next C-4 all about? 
We invite you to come back and "C-4" yourself! 
 
