By Valerie Schmalz
With any luck, each of the 8th graders who attended the Jan. 22 Walk for Life 8th Grade Day walked away feeling God’s love and recognizing their unique and unrepeatable importance as well as the unique and unrepeatable sacredness of every person, beginning with unborn babies.
“He has amazing plans for your life,” said Sister Cecilia of the Sisters of Life, who came with four other Sisters of Life from Phoenix for the event and for the Walk for Life West Coast Saturday. “Every single one of us is unique and irreplaceable.”
“He loves you for you,” Sister Cecilia told the 400 Catholic school 8th graders gathered in the Cathedral Event Center in midtown San Francisco. Founded by now deceased New York Cardinal John O’Connor in 1991, the Sisters of Life take four vows. In addition to vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Sisters of Life take a fourth vow “to protect and enhance the sacredness of all human life.”
Archbishop: “God put you in this world at this time for a special reason.”
“He has given each of you a vocation. You haven’t figured it out yet,” Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said in his homily at Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. But he told the students: “God’s plans are always bigger than we can imagine.”
“God put you in this world at this time for a special reason,” the Archbishop said. “God, in the end, what he wants for us is to be happy.”
The day began with presentations of local ministries. Araceli Ordaz, a missionary with Corazon Puro, spoke about what it means to be made in God’s image and likeness. Sally Brien Holper explained the work of Bella Primary Care as a Catholic medical clinic. Holper encouraged the young people to consider a vocation in Catholic health care. Maria Martinez-Mont told the students about the Archdiocese’s Gabriel Project to assist pregnant mothers in need.
The day was an opportunity for the students to think about “what your own vocation means, how you can be a gift to the world in your life and your vocation and everything you do to recognize the dignity of every human life,” said Ryan Mayer, director of the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Identity Formation & Assessment.
“You have so many gifts to share and it takes time to figure out what that means,” Mayer said.
The 8th grade day fell on Jan. 22, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, returning abortion to the states to decide.
The U.S. Catholic Church marks Jan. 22 as a Day of Prayer for Legal Protection of Unborn Children.
In his homily, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who was in high school at the time, told the students the Roe v. Wade decision was “one of the saddest days in the history of our country.”
The Archbishop talked about the language of abortion advocates, saying the use of pro-choice and anti-abortion is deliberately misleading: “We are all pro-choice,” he said, but abortion destroys the foundational right of another human being to life. “I can’t exercise my rights if it deprives someone else of their rights.”
The Sisters of Life led the students in song, as well as talking with them about the dignity of human life, including the importance of chastity and making good choices in high school. They also talked about God’s mercy. Sister Bethany discussed the order’s ministries, to pregnant women and retreats for women who have had abortions. “We’re unique and unrepeatable and God’s mercy is endless,” Sister Bethany said.
The Walk for Life 8th Grade Day was initially conceived by now Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, who wanted to bring the ideals of the Walk for Life to students in the archdiocesan Catholic schools. The Department of Catholic Schools event was funded by a grant from the Archbishop’s Circle.
At the conclusion of Mass, Archbishop Cordileone thanked concelebrants Vicar General Father Patrick Summerhays and St. Anselm pastor Father Gabriel Wankar.
“I especially though want to thank the teachers, all of our school administrators. They are an example of what I was talking about in my homily. They are doing this not because this is their career, they are doing this because it is their vocation, they do it for love of you, for love of God, to be the person God created them to be. So, follow their example.”
Photos by Mary Powers, Assistant Director of Communications, Archdiocese of San Francisco, and Valerie Schmalz, Director of the Office of Human Life & Dignity.
