Respect Life Month at CDH

By Lou Anne Tighe, Campus Ministry
March 10, 2021

Cretin-Derham Hall is recognizing Respect Life Month throughout the month of March. We focus on the sacredness of life from conception to natural death. In the gospel of John, as Jesus is stripped before crucifixion, his garment was woven in one piece so it was not torn (19.23-24). Similarly, the Catholic Church’s consistent ethic of life is like a seamless garment involving the protection of the unborn, euthanasia, the death penalty, war, social injustice, racial justice, anti-immigrant sentiment, and all social issues that result in the death of human beings. 

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, writes, “Our defense of the innocent unborn…needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred…are the life of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery and every form of rejection” (Gaudete et Exultate, #101).

Earlier this month, all students attended a Community Time presentation, learning about Pro-Life issues and how they intersect with Catholicism. As part of those presentations, students were shown images of Minnehaha Falls in all four seasons:  spring, summer, fall and winter. Reflecting on these images, they were asked, “When are the Falls not the Falls?” The answer: “never.” From opening up to spring life with clean, clear water, to spilling over mightily from summer rains, to carrying the leaves of fall down its ways or frozen in place with just a light steady trickle of water, the Falls in every season remains the Falls. So too is human life, at the moment of conception, the divine light shines and lives in us.  In whatever season human life and dignity is sacred.

In the Blessed Brother James Miller Courtyard stands a student-created memorial to lives lost to violence. There are tombstones reminding us of the unborn and those who have died alone. We recognize these souls and pray for them in a special way this month.

Two special efforts will also be launched, called the J.O.E. Initiatives. Justice, Outreach, Education Projects were started by the Sisters of Saint Joseph and Cretin-Derham Hall will follow their lead. The JOE initiative for April will be taking interested students to the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s Catholics at the Capitol on Thursday, April 15. The JOE initiative for May will be an out-of-uniform collection for Abria Pregnancy Resources.

May this prayer, written by the Gospel of Life Working Group of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, Saint Paul Province, be our prayer for life:

Eternal God, Source of Life, we implore you to protect all unborn children.
Guide and support all expectant parents.
Comfort the aged, the sick and the dying; grant us religious liberty.
Strengthen prisoners especially those awaiting execution, and their victims.
Bring peace to our world torn apart by war, terrorism and countless
Other acts of violence against life.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.