Putting Nature Above God at Mass?

[smith500]

http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life...ssory-prayers-conception-to-natural-death.cfm

We are inundated with “conception to natural death” petitions in Mass usually after we are told the death penalty for the most heinous murderers is wrong because it is “an affront to human dignity.” Are we putting nature above God, when we say “Lord hear our prayer”?

Traditionally, Christians did not speak of “natural death.” No decent religious person or clergyman would refer to the process of a person facing death as “nature taking its course”. We say something like “when God calls him home”. We would limit “nature taking its course” to a wild animal.

Are we, by twisting language to contravene God’s law, also putting nature above God?

God uses nature to administer the death penalty that Adam brought into the world. The exception to using nature, was God’s command “Whoever shed the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God was man made” and confirmed by Jesus when reprimanding Peter for drawing his sword against the slave of an arresting officer: “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword”. (Sorry, you can’t stab a police officer in self defense even if you know the judge issuing the warrant for your arrest is part of a malicious prosecution.)

 

[bobperk]

I don’t respond “Lord, hear our prayer” to the petitions I don’t agree with. I silently pray for an end to abortion and to avoid laws that allow euthanasia, and that the death penalty is reinstated as a holy act of mercy and justice.

 

[Aquinas11]

I liked Aquinas metaphor on death penalty - like an infected limb that must be severed from the body or it poses a threat to health of whole body, if someone poses grave danger to society as whole, they should likewise be cut off from society so to eliminate this risk to society (e.g killer that may be escape, may get out early on parole due to error, may kill inmates in prison), those situations death penalty is appropriate

 

[smith500]

It reminds me of how the sin of the trans Atlantic slave trade was compounded by falsely justifying slavery by claiming slavery of Africans was an act of goodness to Africans because Africans were inferior.

 

[Beryllos]

Are we, by twisting language to contravene God’s law, also putting nature above God?

The twisting of language, as I see it, is that you take a well-meant prayer to end abortion and euthanasia, and mis-apply it to the death penalty.