Mar. 24: The Gift of Life

When Michael Peters of Omaha, Nebraska, was an infant in 1996, his parents heard the distressing news that his heart was terribly weak.  He would need a transplant in order to survive.  Their spirits were lifted once a donor became available.

Michael and his parents still honor the two-year-old heart donor and her family whose gift gave them hope and life.

“When I think about her now, I feel blessed,” said Michael.  “Because of what they did, what she did, I was able to live.”

Father Michael Gutgsell, rector of St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, offers the religious viewpoint on organ donation.  He explains that giving or receiving organs “doesn’t cheapen, disrespect or corrupt the goodness of the physical being or create an obstacle of the possibility of our resurrection from the dead in a glorified body.”

The need for organ donors is great and signing up isn’t necessarily complicated.  Is it right for you?

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh.  (Joel 2:28)

May we recognize the inherent dignity of our human bodies and revere all the lives You have created, Father.