Center for Ethics and Culture’s Bread of Life Dinner engages students and faculty in discussion of pro-life issues

Beginning in the spring of 2009, the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture has hosted its semi-annual Bread of Life Dinner to facilitate reflection and discussion among faculty members and students concerning life issues. According to the Center’s website, the dinner “is especially meant to attract students who might not already be strongly committed to the Church’s teachings on these issues but are open to exploring them.”

This semester’s Bread of Life Dinner, held on October 13, featured Jessica Keating, the Director of the Office of Human Dignity and Life Initiatives. Keating’s talk, entitled, “Witness to Life: Practicing Radical Hospitality in the Throwaway Culture,” explored the effects of the culture of materialism, consumerism, and waste so often denounced by Pope Francis as antithetical to the Gospel.

Our consumer society, Keating began, is characterized by the ease with which we dispose of things. In the context of this “throwaway culture,” it becomes easier to use anything—even human beings—as objects of convenience.

Nevertheless, Keating continued, this inhospitality is not unique to our time. Explaining that the ancient societies of Greece and Rome exposed their unwanted infants to the elements, Keating demonstrated that human beings have regarded other members of their species as disposable throughout history. What sets modern society apart from other eras, she said, is “the dramatic scale at which we can preserve or destroy life.”

Furthermore, there is the problem of anonymity, which serves to foster this culture of inhospitality. The effects of anonymity, Keating suggested, are evident in Planned Parenthood’s continued opposition to laws requiring mothers to be given the opportunity to view their unborn child in an ultrasound. Such an encounter between mother and child is powerful; it establishes a relationship between them and can be the difference between life and death for the child.

Keating insisted that the antidote to the throwaway culture is precisely this “overcoming of anonymity through encounter.” To be truly pro-life, she explained, individuals must cultivate three necessary dispositions that make such authentic encounters possible:

First, attentiveness. Like Pope Francis, who is repeatedly seen welcoming children, we must embrace those who are the most vulnerable and seek to be present and attentive to them. Children require us to slow down, to experience an encounter of love, and to seek to love the individual in the moment.

Second, wonder. The Center for Medical Progress’ recently-released videos concerning Planned Parenthood’s selling of unborn babies’ body parts reflect, according to Keating, “the antithesis of authentic encounter.” Such a vision is severely limited in that it regards the body as form without meaning, considering only the usefulness of a part rather than the whole of a person. On the other hand, Keating explained, wonder requires us to see the world with gratitude, humility, and reverence for human life.

Third, true mercy. Keating referred to California’s “End of Life Option Act,” which legalized euthanasia throughout the state of California, as a “profound misunderstanding of mercy.” True mercy, she said, “enters into the agony of another person” and suffers with that person in imitation of the God who, rather than giving us a lethal dose of morphine, sent us His Son to suffer with us and for us.

In addition to these three dispositions, Keating suggested certain practices that teach us to combat the inhospitality of the throwaway culture. Keating provided several examples of these practices, including learning to waste time, laughing and crying, listening, smiling at others, growing something, praying in the dining hall, and practicing works of mercy.

“These practices are needed for the building up of a new society,” Keating explained. They cultivate a sense of wonder, allow us to participate in God’s mercy, foster a “spontaneity of heart” that Pope Francis advocates, and teach us to redirect our desires away from the consumer culture. Ultimately, Keating concluded, it is this radical hospitality toward which we must aspire if we truly desire to overcome the culture of death.

Nicole O’Leary is a sophomore theology and history major living in McGlinn Hall. She is planning on heeding Keating’s suggestion to plant something, so if you have a green thumb, feel free to contact her at noleary@nd.edu.