DYER – Students from Catholic schools around the Diocese of Gary made a bus trip to Franciscan Health Dyer the morning of Oct. 1 to participate in a Prayer Service to celebrate Respect Life month. The annual event, now in its 32nd year, included speakers, music, prayer and the installation of crosses to demonstrate support for the sanctity of life.
Our Lady of Grace School in Highland brought its sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students. Kaylin McEvoy, teacher at OLG, said in addition to celebrating life, the event is also a great way for students to meet leaders from the diocese and listen to great praise music.
“It’s an immersive opportunity for them to be here with other people of their age group and celebrate life with those in other grades,” she said.
The science and social studies instructor said she hoped the students would walk away with a better appreciation for life, not just their own, but for those around them and in the world.
Bishop Noll Senior Alina Plascencia explained the school’s campus minister invited students who were active in volunteering at school through retreats and Kairos. She said it was an easy ‘yes,’ especially being at the beginning of Respect Life Month.
“(We recently reflected on and engaged in activities related to) suicide prevention. I think it's important to focus on other things too, like respecting life,” Plascencia said.
Sister Josetta Rose, O.S.F, director of mission services for Franciscan Health, welcomed the 15 schools represented at the event and said it was a blessing to have them there to honor the gift of life and the precious gift of human dignity. She reminded those in attendance that the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade, adding that since that time, the month of October has been set aside by the U.S. Bishops as a time to focus on protecting God's precious gift of human life. Sister Josetta added that even though Roe v. Wade was overturned, the battle to uphold the dignity of all human life has not ended.
“This jubilee year offers us the opportunity to appreciate anew and with immense gratitude, the gift of the new life that we have received in baptism,” she said. “The daily headlines remind us of how desperately our world is thirsting for hope that only God can provide. And every day we witness, whether it's on the news, social media or in our daily lives, the disregard of human life in many different forms. Many of these examples threaten life precisely when it is most vulnerable and in need of protection.”
Sister Josetta continued, speaking to the middle schoolers, “Each one of you exists because God wants you to exist. The most perfect love is one that can look at the other and say, ‘I do not need you, but I want a relationship with you.’ And no one can say that more perfectly than God himself. From the beginning, God thought of you, and he so loved that thought of you that he created you. And he still so loves that thought of you.”
Sister Josetta encouraged the students to, “Let him love you. Invite him to love you in whatever circumstance you find yourself in. And be not afraid for him to call you to be great saints and signs of hope to others.”
Father Theodore Mens, a diocesan senior priest and chaplain for Franciscan Health, said those gathered were there to proclaim the goodness and love of God and to be witnesses of life. Events like the prayer service, he said, are needed “in our world, it's often a cruel world, often a world of violence.”
Father Mens had the honor of announcing each of the schools in attendance, inviting those present to cheer when they heard their school read aloud.
“Some of the schools may be small,” Father Mens said, “but if I call your name, you loudly let people know that you are here, and that you are willing to be people and children who make a difference. We already do that when we are young. God always makes a difference through every child, every school, wherever his servants are.”
Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia Father Christopher Stanish, on behalf of Bishop Robert J. McClory, who was on a pilgrimage to Rome, shared that in the day’s Gospel reading, the apostles cried out to Jesus to increase their faith, and he then told them, “If you have faith, the size of this mustard seed, you can do impossible things.”
“You don't need to have huge faith in order to make a difference,” said Father Stanish. “Even small faith, if it's real, can change lives. It can change the world.”
Father Stanish mentioned the theme for this year’s Respect Life Month is “Life: Our Sign of Hope.” He said those words serve as a reminder that “every person, no matter how small, no matter how weak, no matter how vulnerable, is a sign that God has not given up on the world. He hasn't abandoned us. He hasn't left us on our own.”
Father Stanish added that in the Jubilee Year of Hope, Jesus invites his followers to be a sign of hope for others. He offered examples of being that hope that included standing up for someone who's being left out, participating in a diaper drive, writing a note to someone who's hurting or reminding a friend that their life has meaning.
“These acts might seem small, but God can make them grow into something huge,” he said. “So today, let's pray like the apostles increase our faith, increase our faith that life is sacred, increase our faith that even small acts of love matter.”
Father Richard Holy pointed out the fact that everyone who came together that morning was from different towns, different schools and from different families.
“That's what makes each one of you so very special. Because each one of you is created by God. Each one of you is God's beautiful work of art.”
The coordinator of pro-life activities for the Diocese of Gary told the students that while each of them was different, they all started the same. They all started as a tiny baby in the womb of their mother.
“What's so important that we remember and what we proclaim is that whether we're at the very beginning days and weeks of Mom's pregnancy, or whether we're at the end, ready to be born the whole way through, we are a living human being,” he said. “Now, we may be referred to as an embryo, and then later a fetus, while in the womb of our mother. But we are a living baby throughout the entire nine months of mom's pregnancy. Each of us, created by God, sacred and special, and each with the right to life.”
Father Holy shared that, unfortunately, innocent babies in the wombs of their mothers can have their lives taken from them in cases of abortion. He said, despite the mom perhaps feeling unprepared, afraid or alone there are other options. Adoption and Safe Haven Baby Boxes, along with resources including diocesan Walking with Moms in Need groups, Franciscan Health pregnancy assistance program and Women’s Care Centers, all offer an alternative and support to pregnant mothers.
“There are things I know that you have been doing and that you can continue to do to help,” Father Holy said. “You can pray like you are today and pray every day for moms and their babies – that moms have healthy pregnancies and that their babies are delivered safely. You can share with your family and friends how special and important every human life is, even the lives of babies in the wombs of their mothers. And you can do something wonderful. You can help supply these pregnancy resource centers and these Women's Care Centers with the supplies they need for moms and their babies, things like diapers and baby wipes and formula.”
He concluded, “May you continue to show and to share that all human life is sacred, and may God bless you today and always.”
That message seemed to be received among the students. Juan Venegas, who is attending Nativity of Our Savior School in Portage, said the service was a reminder that abortion is never a good option and that all babies deserve to live.
When asked what his favorite part of the prayer service was, Venegas complimented the songs led by David Herr, Alison Powell and Doug Maruszczak.
“I really enjoyed the music,” said the seventh grader. “It was really nice.”
