A participant in the Oahu March for Life waved a sign outside the state Capitol along Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu on Jan. 24 alongside other march attendees as the rally continued inside the Capitol rotunda. (Jennifer Rector / Hawaii Catholic Herald)
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Impassioned appeals for the protection of life filled the rotunda of the state Capitol Jan. 24 as hundreds of people gathered for the annual March for Life in downtown Honolulu.
In addition to powerful speeches and testimonies, participants young and old listened to musical performances, viewed keiki artwork, waved signs along Beretania Street and marched around the Capitol.
Many in attendance were students from campuses across Oahu, from St. Michael School in Waialua to St. Elizabeth School in Aiea to Maryknoll School in Honolulu.
The theme of this year’s march was “Aloha kekahi i kekahi,” or “love one another.” Presenters strived to broaden the push to respect life beyond ensuring protection for unborn babies — their mothers, the elderly, the infirm and people struggling to cope with life’s burdens also deserve support and help, the speakers said.
Bishop Larry Silva, who was the march’s special guest speaker, called the pro-life movement a spiritual matter, not just a political or economic one. He cited St. Ignatius of Loyola’s “The Spiritual Exercises,” which describes a Satan who often appears not as the devil, but as an angel of light who captures our attention. Once we are ensnared by his deception, he leads us down the path to destruction.
The way to counter Satan’s bid for our souls is to be “very discerning,” Bishop Silva said, which requires prayer and becoming attuned to God’s voice.
Bishop Silva also spoke of the danger of thinking that people who support abortion rights, euthanasia and assisted suicide are bad people.
They are not, he said — “They’re brothers and sisters. They’re children of God. But perhaps they have been affected by the one who portrays himself as an angel of light and they believe that they are doing the right thing, they believe that they are being heroic … this is how Satan works.”
This is why discernment and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit are so important, Bishop Silva said.
“This is a spiritual battle at root, and so it is extremely important that we treat it as such and that we remember that the Holy Spirit … wants to be our light.
“If we listen to that voice and learn to attune ourselves to that voice then we will see that (shift) in our culture, in our society, so that there will be respect for life for all,” Bishop Silva said.
Students from St. Elizabeth School in Aiea lined the sidewalk outside the state Capitol to wave signs as motorists passed by on Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu. (Jennifer Rector / Hawaii Catholic Herald)
Bishop Larry Silva was the March for Life’s featured guest speaker. (Jennifer Rector / Hawaii Catholic Herald)
Hundreds of people sat and stood in the Capitol rotunda to listen to speakers, musical performances and more before marching through downtown Honolulu. (Courtesy Dann Ebina)
