A pro-life calendar that covers all ‘life’ issues

 
October is pro-life month, and this year a new resource helps teachers of religion at all levels – elementary, high school and in parishes – delve into all aspects of life from womb to tomb.
   The resource, “Pro-life Calendar 2013 – 30 days to a more consistent ethic of life through prayer, reflection and action,” was created over the summer by St. Mary’s Dominican senior Lily Ryan during an internship with the Louisiana Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (LCADP) and its affiliate REPEAL: Catholics for Justice and Mercy, groups dedicated to ending capital punishment in Louisiana.
   
Ryan was interested in more than just the abortion aspect of pro-life issues; she considered social justice issues, such as the death penalty, just as important. So, she created a calendar that embraced the true meaning of being pro-life, highlighting all life issues – abortion and euthanasia, criminal justice and the death penalty, poverty, the environment, human trafficking, immigration, violence and prejudice. The calendar, designed for October, briefly describes each issue, offers a daily prayer and Scripture reading.
   “In order to understand one, you have to put them into perspective with all life and understand that all life is sacred,” Ryan said. “Jesus was all about helping the poor and women that people didn’t accept. It’s hard to think about Jesus Christ and his teaching and not see that life is precious.”
   She said the calendar offers something specific users can do each day – a prayer, a thought to concentrate on, an action plan and a website with alternate resources. She sees religion and other classes using it and even pro-life clubs.
   The Pro life and Social Justice Club at Jesuit is using the resource, said Sidney Garmon, executive director of LCADP.
   “Lily recognized the importance of pro-life month but felt the some pro-life issues are often forgotten and many resources are often over-used,” Garmon said. “Her new resource brings attention to the plethora of life issues that are relevant to Catholics today. Life in the womb had no less dignity than the life of someone in prison. We wanted to put this together to promote the ethics of life in the community.”
   To get feedback on the calendar’s language, content and its reception from people of differing opinions, Ryan sent it to the archdiocese’s Religious Education Office, Respect Life office and the Office of Justice and Peace and those who do social ministry. 
   “Most of the people in ministry were extremely receptive to the resource,” Garmon said. “For so long, so many people have been talking about creating a resource involving all aspects of life. They were blown away that it was created by a senior in high school.”
   This resource has received enormous praise from the Respect Life Office and the Office of Religious Education, Garmon said. In fact, the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Religious Education Office placed the resource on its website (www.orearchdio-no.com) under news to be downloaded, said Paula Taylor, associate director of elementary and secondary Catholic school catechesis.  It was also distributed at various meetings with campus ministers, Catholic high school religion department chairs and to coordinators of catechetical leaders in elementary Catholic schools and school and parish catechetical leaders.
   “First of all, it’s very rare to see a piece of pro-life literature that truly covers all of the issues,” Taylor said. “Usually it leans toward one group (i.e., anti-death penalty, abortion). It’s very nice that in this concise calendar, you have all of this together,” Taylor said. “And, I thought that the suggestions for activities to take yourself deeper in a particular area to be very helpful.”
   Taylor said already a math teacher uses the reflections in the guide as opening prayer in class. “I found that fascinating,” she said.
Goal of calendar
   “Our goal isn’t necessarily to get people to change their mind, but to create a space where they can have a dialogue on these issues,” Garmon said. “And we want them to use this dialogue in prayer to come to a decision to support an issue wholeheartedly. A lot of concepts have maturity in them. That’s a great compliment to Lily. She worked so hard on this, and you can see that her hard work paid off.”
   While the calendar is geared for October, Ryan encourages use of the calendar after October. She sees it easily adaptable for any month, such as January when many travel to the March for Life on Washington, D.C.
   “I wanted to show that the church has great things to say about so many issues of life,” Ryan said. “I hoped it would spark discussion. If one person talks about it, it will be a success.”
   Ryan is a eucharistic minister, president of the National Honor Society, drummer and officer in the band, and a member of the cross country,  math and engineering, and Quiz Bowl teams at Dominican.
            Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].