There are usually two ways of looking at things – a person can be optimistic or pessimistic. When things are going bad, the optimist will say, “Don’t worry, it is always darkest before daybreak.” But the pessimist counters, “Mark my word, things are always darkest before they go completely black.”

Well, I don’t know if I am an optimist or a pessimist, but I do see a darkness coming over our society. There is an area of darkness which has overtaken us in stealthy manner. I am speaking about the use of human embryos for research. Private laboratories have been doing it for a number of years, but many are pushing for more government involvement. Celebrities, research scientists and politicians have joined hands to promote government funding. Apparently it has broad public support. Earlier this month our neighbors to the south voted six billion dollars for embryonic stem cell research. In addition to their desire to stimulate California's economy, they reasoned that six billion dollars is a small price to pay for a possible cure for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. But did they consider the price of sacrificing tiny human lives?

The darkness of human sacrifice not only hangs over the research centers, it pervades our society. A friend gave me a copy of the University of Washington Daily. It has an ad seeking “egg donors.” With a picture of a smiling man holding lovely child, the ad invites co-eds to give the “precious gift of life.” In bold letters it offers $3,000 – 4,000 compensation for their eggs. Obviously, the offer would be attractive to a college student strapped for money – especially, when framed in such noble terms. But will the young woman later ask herself what happened to her offspring? One might wind up in a caring family and yet will inevitably wonder who were his mother and his father.* Another might be pulled apart for medical research. Yet another might be simply discarded.

St. Paul tells us “the night is advanced.” People engage in sinful activity during the night because they have less chance of being caught. Thieves and prostitutes prefer the cover of darkness. “Respectable” people also seek a cover for their activities. St. Paul mentions “rivalry and jealousy.” A sweet, smiling exterior can provide a cover for great malice. Or like the U of W ad, the picture of a happy parent and child – combined with “science” – can hide the horrendous exploitation of fellow humans. The embryo may be very tiny, but it is still human - fully capable of the same existence you or I have. The evil of slavery and the evil of Nazism was to treat an entire class as non-human or sub-human. Size is as much an accident as skin color or having a Jewish grandmother. The subjects of embryonic research are very small, but they possess the same human worth.

The night is advanced. Then St. Paul adds, “The day is at hand.” He does not mean this in the optimistic sense that a wonderful new day is dawning. What is dawning is the Day of Judgment. The works which we try to cover up will be brought to light. Jesus gives the same warning. Stay awake. Be prepared. “At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

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