Keeping the message positive, participants in 40 Days for Life walk around the Hawaii State capitol Jan. 22. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
By Deacon Gary and Valerie Streff
Special to the Herald
The 49th Annual March for Life 2022 was an awe-inspiring 10 days of novenas, fasting and marching around the Hawaii State capitol. Its true beauty was the unison of people — 40-Days for Life participants, Students for Life, Knights of Columbus, Sacred Hearts sisters and brothers, parishioners from many parishes and many others — building up the Body of Christ honoring the sanctity of life. This month the Christian community found comfort in the rekindling of hope, knowing its prayers and actions are a work in progress, living the truths of our Christian faith.
The Diocese of Honolulu’s Respect Life Ministry takes great pleasure in thanking everyone for their contribution of time, sacrifice and prayer, and for marching on Jan. 21 and 22 at their parishes, at the capitol, and in front of Planned Parenthood. The Christian community resoundingly echoed the voices of the innocent, permitted them to be heard over the whole state. We recognize and thank the 66 parishes and their missions that participated in this year’s March for Life activities, which included praying the Nine-Days for Life Novena during Mass, groups praying the rosary, and offering pro-life prayers of the faithful. A hearty “thank you” to the priests, deacons, nuns and laypersons who led parish eucharistic adoration with benediction or marching on their parish grounds.
Although we live in challenging times with COVID-19, which caused the cancellation of last year’s March for Life and strictly limited this year’s, still Catholics across our great state found ways to bring awareness of the sanctity of life. God hears our lamentations and praise. He will, in his chosen time, be faithful to his people and answer those prayers. By praising God, the creator of life who brought all things into being, we are uplifted to a renewed sense of life. It also allows us to use our God-given spiritual gifts faithfully or regrettably — through our free will — to discard them.
Some pro-life advocates did not participate this year due to valid COVID concerns; but across the United States, many turned out in full force, especially in Washington, D.C., for the 49th Annual March for Life and the Students for Life Pro-Life Summit on Jan. 22. They also gathered in San Francisco for the 18th Annual Walk for Life West Coast and in Los Angeles for the One Life LA.
However, our march is not over, nor will it be over until Roe v. Wade is overturned and a culture of life is preserved throughout the world. The light of hope remains with the U.S. Supreme Court as it debates the constitutionality of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban in “Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health.” Let us join in sustained communal prayer, that the judges will right a 50-year-long wrong and end abortion as a constitutional right. Your prayers matter. Continue to pray!
The lead sign in the Jericho March for Life at the Hawaii state capitol tells this year’s message, “Equality begins in the womb.” (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
The March for Life isn’t a one-day affair, or a seven-day Jericho March. It is an everyday event living out the Gospel of life. The gift of life is given by our Creator, God himself: “God created human beings, and blessed them and said, ‘Have many children so that your descendants will live all over the earth.’ God looked at everything he made, and he was very pleased.” (Genesis 1:27-30)
As Christians we are called to appreciate God’s gift of life and not allow anyone or anything to take it away. We stand before God praying that everyone shares this gift with gratitude. As children of Christ, our mission is to help others know him, love him and serve him. It is only through his path that we find true happiness.
The teaching of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is clear. Abortion is preeminent in our public policy advocacy for several reasons: abortion attacks human life at its most vulnerable state; abortion harms families by attacking family and personal relationships; and sadly, abortion has caused the death of over 63 million babies since 1973. How, in good conscience, can we Christians say we are lovers of God’s creation if we do not take a stand against the culture of death? In God’s eyes and in the eyes of every Christian, abortion and euthanasia are not health care; nor is assisted suicide’s slogan “dying with dignity” one any Christian should embrace. These culturally accepted phrases are in direct opposition to God’s Commandment of “You shall not kill.”
As pro-life advocates, our goal must be to plant the “seed of life.” All are created in the image and likeness of God and all life must be respected, whether that of the poor, the immigrant, the disabled, the elderly, the abandoned, the homeless, and those on death row.
Deacon Gary and Valerie Streff are the co-directors of the diocesan Respect Life Office.
