NEW CANAAN—As protesters marched in Washington on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling and to advocate for the sanctity of life, St. Aloysius Parish held its own Respect Life Day of Prayer right here at home on January 20.
The day of pro-life events included opportunities to attend Mass and Eucharistic Adoration, as well as to pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet in community.
The day culminated with a Holy Hour on Behalf of Life—one of many held throughout the country as part of an effort by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Holy Hour included Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and a testimonial from a St. Aloysius parishioner.
Monsignor Robert Kinnally, pastor of St. Aloysius, reminded the congregation that in addition to the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and the March for Life, January 20 also marked the Feast Day of St. Sebastian, who was martyred during the Diocletian persecution of early Christians.
St. Sebastian “is one of the many of those who gave up their lives for the sake of the Gospel, their very lives, like the Lord Jesus did,” he said. “They stand before us as witnesses who loved the Lord Jesus so much, had him in (their) heart and proclaimed to the world, ‘I believe.’”
Monsignor Kinnally noted the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew was particularly apt, as Jesus reminded his disciples not to fear those who can only kill the body, but to fear God, who can kill both body and soul in Gehenna.
“If you really are a follower of Jesus, and do what you are supposed to do, people will criticize you,” Monsignor Kinnally said. “And so what Peter says is even if you should suffer because of righteousness … blessed are you if you suffer, because you do what God asks you to do.”
Monsignor Kinnally noted that Jesus is particularly strong in the Gospel reading, warning people against doing something that is God’s responsibility on their own terms. “It’s hard work being a disciple; we are to bring Christ to the world, even a world that pushes back … on life,” he said.
Monsignor Kinnally said that God has the power to love a human being into creation, and that God is unable to make mistakes. And so when a human being is loved into creation, it then becomes our responsibility to protect that sacred life.
“Our whole faith life is built on hope,” Monsignor Kinnally said. “And all life is built on the intentional design of a God who loves everyone into creation. And God will see that to the end; (he) will see it on this earth and protect that life into all eternity.”
After Mass concluded, St. Aloysius hosted Eucharistic Adoration for those present. Monsignor Kinnally read from Psalm 139, which reaffirmed the pro-life message of the events his parish held that day.
“This is what God does: creates and recreates, all the time,” he said. “And so that’s what life is: the exquisite creation of God.”
Monsignor Kinnally recalled the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, in which God creates many things and then recognizes that they are “good.” The exception, he noted, was humankind, which God creates and recognizes as “very good.”
“We are wonderfully made by God because God is wonderful,” he said. “To be wonderfully made is to be made in the image of God. And therefore every creature, every human being is holy, because they are made in the image of God.”
The Holy Hour also included comments from St. Aloysius parishioner Joe Lane, who said he had four reasons for being pro-life: spiritual, scientific, social and personal. His spiritual reasons came from the Bible, his scientific reasons came from a medical textbook and his social reasons came from the codes of law from even the oldest civilizations who regarded murder as wrong.
But his personal reasons came from something that happened to him last year: a diagnosis of Stage Four cancer. He said both the chemotherapy and the prayers he said and received helped to heal him to the point where his cancer was now under control.
“The chemo and other medications had real and powerful effects on my body, but so did the prayer,” Lane said. “My friends and family were praying for my life—that life I was given in the womb so many years ago.”
Lane said he has pondered the question of life from many angles. And while he believes that when a person begins may be more of a philosophical question, the question of when life begins is not.
“I know and appreciate that life itself is the greatest gift ever given,” he said.
Reflecting on the wonderful and holy nature of life, Monsignor Kinnally said conversations about its sanctity can be most productive if they begin from that point: that human beings are a creation of God—the sole creation he recognized as “very good.”
“We don’t want to mess with holy things,” he said. “We want to protect them. We want to keep them safe. We want to treasure them.”
