RESPECT LIFE PERSPECTIVE
Elizabeth Ministry Proclaims The Sacredness of Life
The models for Elizabeth Ministry are Mary and Elizabeth in their ministry to one another during their pregnancies. Elizabeth Ministers are to follow the example of Elizabeth in recognizing the sacred in new life. Through the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth was able to recognize that the child Mary was carrying was the Lord. An Elizabeth Minister is to follow her faith in recognizing the dignity and worth of the children with the women she visits. Her enthusiasm and delight over the little ones will encourage the women to believe that whatever she does for her children, she does for Christ. There is a need in our society to celebrate life. Instead of respecting and reverencing the life of children our current structures and policies rob these little ones of dignity, and make it difficult for them to be nurtured and cared for with love. Elizabeth Ministry is based on the premise that if we reverence every child as sacred, we will cherish that child into adulthood and old age.
Recognition of the sacredness of life will call us to mourn as a community at the loss of any child. Miscarriages, stillbirths and other infant or child deaths are to be a time of great mourning for the entire community. This witness to the dignity and worth of all people, even to the unborn is a strong respect life message. If a community does not grieve over the loss of a child in a miscarriage, it is questionable as to why it would mourn an abortion. In general, as a Christian community, we have fallen short in recognizing the value of the unborn by not ritualizing the loss of a child through miscarriage. Elizabeth Ministry seeks to raise the awareness of the importance of human life by helping the church truly celebrate the gift of each child conceived and born, as well as, publicly mourning each miscarriage and infant or child death. As the marketplace mentality of the media proclaims ways to “control or eliminate” birth, we will be giving witness to the beauty of life by assisting women that suffer from infertility, encouraging those in the adoptive process, and supporting the families experiencing an infant or child crisis.
Elizabeth Ministry believes that the unique blessings of reproduction are given as a gift from our Creator. This direct maternal ministry given to us by God is good! However, our society proclaims the opposite. We continually hear how to stop this gift of reproduction, from contraception to abortion. The media portrays getting pregnant as something to avoid. Years ago a new child was considered a blessing by being another pair of hands to help the family. Today a child is often looked upon as the curse of another mouths to feed! If we truly believe that every child is made in the image and likeness of God, then we surely have something to celebrate every time a child is conceived and born!
In the media, children are often presented as a bother, a burden, who inhibit freedom and self-fulfillment. Our daily papers are filled with examples of children who are ignored, abused and abandoned. The market place mentality frequently views children as a commodity to be exploited in order to make a profit. Despite the rhetoric to the contrary, we are becoming a society that does not hold sacred the life of the most powerless and helpless among us, namely, the unborn and the small child. For many pregnancy is not a time of wonder and joy, but rather, a time of apprehension and fear. Young people are warned against becoming pregnant. Middle-age women are reminded about possible complications during pregnancy and birth. Genetic counseling and prenatal testing has heightened the fear of a whole array of possible deformities that might be present in the baby.
Every parish that has started the ministry has discovered the power of gathering Christian women together in the manner of Mary and Elizabeth to share their stories. Women are drawn to this ministry out of a felt need in their own lives. It is time for all to us to join in the words of Elizabeth when she greeted Mary, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
Note: Permission to be called an Elizabeth Minister is given when a person signs a registration form stating she/he will respect life from the moment of conception. (Registration Forms are in the Elizabeth Ministry Leader's Manual.)