St.
Patrick’s PARISH
T H E C U LT U R E O T
Living out an Essential Mission,
he Catechism teaches us that it is a moral obligation to defend and uphold the dignity of the human person. But what does that look like? We see and hear much about the abortion debate and that side of the pro-life movement, but what about after the child is born? The Culture of Life Ministry at St. Patrick’s has a heart and a mission to promote and educate others on what it means to uphold the dignity of the human person, from conception to natural death. Parishioner and active member of the Culture of Life Ministry, Ruth Peterson shares about their history and mission. “St. Patrick’s has had a pro-life presence for several decades,” Ruth says. “Participation has ebbed and flowed over the years but in 2017, Colleen Deneen revitalized this ministry. Along with the events that we take part in, we really try to do a lot of educational things to inform the community about the issues that we are facing. We call them to action on signing petitions, writing to our elected officials and we keep people informed on legislative bills pertaining to these topics.” The ministry has put together information fairs where parishioners can come and learn about many different pro-life issues. Ruth reflects on what brought her to be
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involved in this ministry. “I graduated from college in the late ‘70s and, in retrospect, I can see that I was fairly well indoctrinated in the pro-choice point of view,” she says. “I never really questioned that point of view until I met Pete, my husband-to-be. He was Catholic and of course, he strongly questioned the pro-choice stance. Once I became a part of his family and joined the Catholic Church, I was gently and lovingly led to understand and believe in the child’s right to life.” From there, her passion for defending life at all stages has grown and a key part of that is not only defending life but educating others on what the major issues are surrounding the Culture of Life movement. “We have a whole generation of people who don’t know that there are better solutions,” Ruth says. “The news quit talking about the pro-life side. There is a need for more effort on the part of Catholics and Christians to keep working towards this goal.” The Culture of Life Ministry promotes and hosts many events along with the education that they provide. One of their events centered on the right to life is Spiritual Adoption. Parishioners are invited to spiritually “adopt” an unborn baby and pray
