“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” – Matt. 18: 10
DYER – Franciscan Health Dyer hosted hundreds of junior and senior high schoolchildren on Oct. 1 to open Respect Life Month and pray with Bishop Robert J. McClory of the Diocese of Gary for all lives from the moment of conception through natural death.
“It is the Feast of the Holy Angels, the patron saints of our diocese, a special day to be here,” Bishop McClory told the youngsters. “We heard in today’s Gospel that all little ones have guardian angels in heaven looking at the face of God, which is really a beautiful thing.”
The bishop compared the beginning of human life to turtle eggs and bald eagle eggs which are so prized that they are protected by law. “You can’t touch them or disturb their habitat … we are called to respect that life all the more in humans, no matter how tiny.”
Pope Francis, noted the bishop, “Says we live in a throwaway culture where people, especially the poor, the disabled, those not yet useful and the elderly, are not respected. He warns us that we can’t have that attitude – can’t say you’re too tiny so we can throw you away – but are called to have the biggest arms we can to love, regardless of race, creed, poverty or their situation. All human life counts.”
Fourteen diocesan schools were represented at the 31st anniversary of the first Respect Life Celebration and introduced by Father Theodore Mens, Franciscan Health chaplain and retired diocesan director of pro-life activities: Andrean High School in Merrillville, Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, Marquette High School in Michigan City, Notre Dame School in Michigan City, Our Lady of Grace School in Highland, St. Casimir School in Hammond, St. John the Baptist School in Whiting, St. John the Evangelist School in St. John, St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point, St. Mary School in Griffith, St. Michael School in Schererville, St. Stanislaus Elementary School in East Chicago, St. Thomas More School in Munster, Queen of All Saints School in Michigan City, as well as and the St. Francis Center at Franciscan Health Dyer and Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill.
Standing on the hospital campus as witnesses to life among hundreds of white crosses representing abortions taking place nationwide every day, assigned students placed crosses on the lawn bordering U.S. 30 just east of the Indiana/Illinois line.
“Remember that all of us are God’s children,” said Father Mens. “These crosses are a reminder that Jesus was a seed of Mary,” and while he was put to death, “when he rose from the dead he showed us that he is the Lord of Victory and can’t be destroyed or defeated.”
Teachers in diocesan schools are also using the Respect Life Prayer Service to engage their students in the Catholic culture of life values.
“The campus minister and I discussed how much we should prepare students for this event, and we decided not to over-prepare them,” said Kevin Driscoll, director of Mission and Ministry at Bishop Noll. “We wanted to let them experience the day and later we’ll discuss it in class. The senior class actually had a day off today, but eight students chose to come, and we are taking them to lunch afterward where they can informally process what they heard and saw.
“I reminded them that despite all the crosses they saw here today, that’s only a fraction of the number of children lost each day by abortion,” Driscoll added.
“Today offers students a good opportunity to see real world experience when it comes to life, and learn that it’s important to stand up for your religious beliefs,” said Joanna Cate, a junior high English/Language Arts teacher at Notre Dame in Michigan City. “It’s hard for young students to take a stand on anything (due to peer pressure), but here as a group, they can show strength.”
The theme for this year’s Respect Life Month is, “I Came So That They Might Have Life.”
“Being in radical solidarity with women who are pregnant or raising children in difficult circumstances means putting our love for them into action and putting their needs before our own,” said Sister Josetta Rose, OSF, director of mission services for Franciscan Health Dyer and Munster. “Pope Francis reminds us that solidarity ‘refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset,’ that requires us to walk alongside vulnerable mothers in profound friendship, compassion and support for both them and their preborn children.”
Sister Josetta Rose added that programs such as Franciscan Health’s Prenatal Assistance Program, the national Walking with Moms in Need initiative, the Project Rachel Ministry and others are examples of radical solidarity in action.
Loraine Moreno of the Walking with Moms in Need Ministry at St. Joseph in Hammond explained that the group was established in 2022 as a “boots on the ground, grassroots team” to help mothers in need and their babies. “Sometimes all they need is someone to listen, but for those with immediate needs, we can provide diapers and clothing and link them to resources like Franciscan Health’s Prenatal Assistance Program and the Women’s Care Center.
The team has hosted two baby showers to help out families, “and some mothers have told us that it was the only celebration they received for their baby’s life.”
“This service opens up the door to a great class discussion on respect for life from before birth to the end of life,” said Colleen Kennedy, junior high religion teacher at St. Mary in Griffith. “We deal with some tough issues, like suicide, and this offers a way to approach them, even abortion, which they are not too young to learn about.”
Notre Dame science teacher Helen Jurczyk said the Respect Life event can be connected to science studies. “When we teach about the formation of the universe and the ‘big bang,’ we know that God had a hand in everything … we are created in his image. Pope John Paul II agreed that science and religion can coexist when he said: ‘Each can bring the other into a wider world, a world where both may flourish.’”
“Junior high students may hesitate to talk about these subjects, but when they see it through an uplifting prayer service, it is a great experience, very prayerful,” added Kennedy.
Caption: Among hundreds of students gathered at Franciscan Health Dyer, Our Lady of Grace eighth-graders (left to right) Carter Wedryk, Matthew Ball, Carolina Ruiz and Jimena Nazario each plant a cross in the ground to represent an unborn child lost to abortion, as part of the Respect Life Prayer Service on Oct. 2. According to hospital officials, the annual event aims to "celebrate all life with an emphasis on individual life and to draw attention to the lives lost to abortion." (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)