All
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The Respect Life Ministry
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Making a Difference and Upholding the Sanctity of Life
ll life is sacred — and as Catholics, we have a responsibility to protect life and share the truth with others. All Saints’ Respect Life Ministry aims to bring awareness to the atrocity of abortion and promote a pro-life culture in which all lives are treated with respect and dignity. “Our society has degraded the value of life, regardless of who it is — there are so many different things going on that are so egregious,” says ministry leader Jack Falloure. “When it comes to abortion, we’re talking about 63 million children in the United States alone. This is such a large population and it’s just awful. We want to spread the message that all life is valuable.” The ministry, in conjunction with the pro-life efforts of the parish’s Knights of Columbus council, has been active for over 15 years. When previous ministry leader Jim DeSmet began his tenure with the ministry, he and his wife began to pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet in front of local abortion facilities. They — and whoever chose to join them — would pray at an abortion facility every Saturday on all 52 weeks of the year. “Regardless of weather, regardless of anything, they were always in front of an abortion facility praying every Saturday,” Jack says. “They had been doing it for years
and years when I took over the ministry, so I thought it was important to continue it. Usually, we have anywhere from five to 20 people that go every single weekend — sometimes it’s a good number and sometimes it’s a small number, but I always say that as long as there’s even one person, it’s okay. “We’re not there to prevent anyone from doing anything, but we’re there to encourage them to have their child,” he adds. “We do it all through prayer — we don’t get in their faces, or do any kind of counseling. We just want to work through prayer.” Ministry members will meet on Saturdays for the 9 a.m. Mass, and then receive a blessing — as well as the rosaries — before caravanning to the abortion facility. After finishing their prayers, each person receives a blessed rosary, which they then place on a nearby crepe myrtle tree. “We call it the Tree of Rosaries, and it has become very special because we’re trying to fill the tree up with rosaries,” Jack says. “We recently bought 100 rosaries from a local store and will continue to do this until we have used up all 100 — and then we’ll buy more. We really want to cover the entire tree with rosaries as a sign of what’s going on continued on page 5
“Our society has degraded the value of life, regardless of who it is — there are so many different things going on that are so egregious. When it comes to abortion, we’re talking about 63 million children in the United States alone. This is such a large population and it’s just awful. We want to spread the message that all life is valuable.” — Jack Falloure
