Submitted by Fr. Peter Ullrich, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Tarkio

Every January, football is a big focus in our country. But there are three things which also should get our attention. These three events: the Christian churches week of prayer for Christian unity (January 18-25), Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday), and the annual March for Life commemorating the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision in 1973 legalizing abortion. These three events bring clearly into focus Gospel Values. Each of these calls for Christians everywhere to put their Faith into Action. We are reminded that Jesus himself called and prayed that “they might all be one.” This is a call for the many Christian Churches (Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, Disciples and more) – a call for all to recall and celebrate what unites us, and to use that as a springboard to promote unity and understanding among all the followers of Jesus Christ. Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. is an opportunity for all to consider the values he promoted – understanding, acceptance of differences, and end to prejudices and all that divides us, non-violence. Aren’t all of these values of the Gospel? And finally, there is the call for greater respect for all human life – from conception to death. We recall that Jesus said: “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.” In so many ways we can see a loss of respect for human life. This is not just in the countless abortions across the land, but in the way lives are senselessly ended by gun violence and are harmed in many other ways.

One of the young members of St. Paul parish took part in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. recently. I share a few of her thoughts –

This January I was able to attend the March for Life 2020. This is an important subject to me. I understood the pro-life mindset. I was always told that abortion was bad because it was murder. “People do this on purpose and don’t even care.” Every year millions of babies are aborted.

So, with a group of high schoolers, my friends and I took a 56 passenger bus to D.C. on a Monday. While on the bus, we watched “Unplanned,” a movie which portrays the truth about abortion, Planned Parenthood especially. This experience solidified my stance as a pro-lifer. We went to mass in the Cathedral in D.C. and attended the Life is Very Good rally. On Friday, we attended the March for Life itself. Seeing so many people united in opposition of abortion gave me courage to stand up for the unborn. In conclusion, my friends and I marched to show the world by our actions our opinion, and in doing so grew spiritually and realized fully the position of pro-lifers as well as our duty as Catholics to support this movement.

Understanding, acceptance, unity, sanctity of life – the Gospel call comes to us all.