THE CONSISTENT ETHIC OF LIFE:

The Seamless Garment

 

"The seamless garment is a prominent but puzzling symbol in John’s Gospel. The soldiers cast lots for this garment so they would not have

 to tear it since “the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top” (John 19:23). This seamless garment, like the seamless

 net (21:11), seems to be a symbol of unity or oneness, the unity that Jesus brought and calls us to live out.

 

The late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin used the seamless garment as an image for a unified or consistent ethic of life.

 

This image challenges us to have a seamless respect for life from the womb to the tomb."

 

Fr. James Scullion, O.F.M.