Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
January 30, 2002
Pro-lifers urged to be respectful `apostles of life'
1,000 attend Respect Life Mass commemorating 29th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade
By Alwen Bledsoe
A message of love and healing crowned the Jan. 19 Respect Life Mass. Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., celebrated the Mass commemorating the 29th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade (Jan. 22) at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Even before the Mass began, hundreds knelt to pray, some silently reciting the rosary. An estimated 1,000 had filled the cathedral by 12:10 p.m. when the Knights of Columbus, children clutching flowers, and parishioners holding parish pro-life banners joined a colorful procession through the church.
"Today for most people is an ordinary Saturday in January," Archbishop Chaput said. But for Catholics, he said, it was a day to reflect on the consequences of the Roe vs. Wade decision and to pray.
Drawing on the daily readings, the archbishop spun a message that was triumphantly pro-life and pro-love. Even the smallest individual can make a difference, he said. He used the figures of King Saul and the tax collector Levi as examples.
"God takes poor instruments and makes them do great things," Archbishop Chaput said. "And God does it in surprising ways."
Of Saul the archbishop said, "We're told in this reading that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, which was the smallest tribe of all the tribes of Israel and insignificant in the eyes of his followers and in the eyes of Jewish history, and yet God chose this man in this surprising way to do wonderful things as the leader of his people."
And though God calls few to be kings, he added, each Christian is called to be a leader.
"Each of us has a place in God's plan, and through this reading I want us to understand the importance we all have in the transformation of our culture."
The archbishop also warned that self-righteousness can mar pro-life activism.
"Self righteousness is a great danger if we forget we too are sinners," he began, later adding: "It's important for us to see (our opponents) as brothers and sisters, fellow sinners, for whom we hope God will use us to bring them his righteousness. We need to be apostles of life, humble apostles: strong, forceful, never backing down, but deeply respectful of (our) fellow human beings."
Alluding to Christ's words in the Gospels, Archbishop Chaput said that it is the sick, not the healthy, who need a doctor.
"You and I are called to be physicians, the hands of Christ, to help heal the sickness in our culture," he explained.
The Mass fell just two days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Archbishop Chaput hearkened back to the civil rights leader's words.
"Martin Luther King, whose anniversary we celebrate this weekend, once said something very, very important," the archbishop said. "He said, `It's important that if you want to change people, that you love them, and that they know you love them.' We ought to make that our cause as we make life our cause: to love those who disagree with us and oppose the teachings of Christ, to love them into the truth."
After the Mass Mimi Eckstein, director of the archdiocesan Respect Life Office, presented the Pro Vitae Awards and introduced the winners of this year's Respect Life Essay Contest. The Pro Vitae Awards recognized those dedicated to pro-life work within the Church. Seventh- and eighth-grade students from the archdiocese's Catholic schools were invited to enter the Respect Life Essay Contest.
Recipients of the Pro-Vitae Awards were Bob and Mary Dalton of St. Thomas More Parish, Centennial; Barbara von Behren of St. Louis Parish, Centennial; and Jack Zook from Mother of God Parish. Essay winners were Grace Baumgartner from Sacred Heart of Jesus, Boulder; Kelli Eddy from Sts. Peter and Paul, Wheat Ridge; Nichole Garofalo from St. Thomas More, Centennial; Alyssa Serres from Assumption; and Magdalena Wegrzyn from Nativity of Our Lord, Broomfield.
Eddy read her essay following the presentation of the awards.
Asked to pick three examples of those who respect life, Eddy chose her mother, her grandmother and those who risked their lives Sept. 11 to help save victims of the terrorist attack.
Eddy began by extolling the Sept. 11 heroism of firefighters and police officers. She then moved on to the subject of adoption.
"All adopted children are a living testimony to a young woman's decision to respect life," she said. "I am here today with my family because my birth mother respected my life, and I am very grateful to her for making a very difficult decision."
After reading about her grandmother's 20 years of faithful care for her husband, sick with a terminal illness, Eddy concluded her essay with the words, "Respect one another. Respect life."
500 attend Right to Life rally at state Capitol
By Alwen Bledsoe
Sara Wilkinson was 19, pregnant and on her way into an abortion clinic. Protesters yelled at her that she was killing her baby. She began to sob. Sitting in the waiting room of the clinic Sara couldn't escape the certainty that she carried life inside her.
"I couldn't do it," she said.
She left the clinic, and one of the protesters, Jo Scott, approached her, asking if they could talk.
Sara agreed.
"That's all I wanted," she said.
Braden was born about nine months later.
Sara, with son Braden, was one of the speakers to address an estimated 500 at the Jan. 19 Colorado Right to Life rally held on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver.
The rally featured Dan Caplis, host of the Dan Caplis Show on 850 KOA. Caplis is also a trial lawyer and serves as the legal expert for the station. His trial assignments have included the Rodney King trial, the Mike Tyson rape case and the O.J. Simpson trial.
Calling the pro-life movement "the most important civil rights battle in the history of our nation," Caplis said: "If you are denied the most basic civil right, the right to life, the other rights don't matter. So far, more than 30 million children have been deprived of their right to life. But like the great civil rights workers who have come before us, we will overcome, and we will not accept any outcome other than total victory. We will not stop until the killing stops."
Caplis urged pro-life voting as well as monetary support for pro-life organizations.
Following the rally, the crowd marched to a Planned Parenthood clinic located on 9th Avenue and Broadway Boulevard.
80 attend Mass for sanctity of human life at chancery
The Respect Life Office sponsored a Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Christ the King Chapel the morning of Jan. 22 to commemorate the 29th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called for the day to be honored as a day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person through acts of abortion, and as a day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. Some 80 faithful attended the liturgy, which was followed by refreshments at the Respect Life Office.
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