“We are all children of God, and every human life has value.”
Recently, staff and students of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board Culture of Life Committee attended the Respect Life Fundraising Dinner in support of Hamilton Right to Life.
Secondary students who are members of their school’s Culture of Life Committee, accompanied by their teacher advisors, joined together for an evening of fellowship, prayer, and a presentation from guest speaker, Blaise Alleyne with the Canadian Centre of Bio-ethical Reform. Alleyne’s presentation focused on how to constructively and compassionately discuss the realities of MAID (Medical assistance in dying) through a Catholic lens. Using an apologetic approach, Alleyne challenges people to see that life is at the heart of the issue, and as a society we need to appreciate the deeper meaning and purpose of suffering. As Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, “...suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5.3-5).
When asked to reflect on the evening a student from Bishop Ryan shared, “I was able to leave this evening with a much deeper understanding of these issues that I did not know as much about before. It was very powerful to have so many people in a room together to talk about a subject like MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying), and it was moving to be able to hear the perspective of voices that are normally silenced. . . we are all children of God, and every human life has value. This event has solidified my belief that we are made in God’s image and deserve the right to life.”
.jpg "Chaplain Don Hall and Principal Palermo with students")
