‘Every Human Life Is Sacred,’ Says Cardinal at Respect Life Mass

Posted

During the annual Respect Life Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral last Sunday, Cardinal Dolan said, “Jesus came, my brothers and sisters, to remind us that every human life is sacred.”

“Jesus came to restore the culture of life,” the cardinal said.

The Jan. 18 Mass was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, firm proponents of the culture of life. Also participating were the Sisters of Life, the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights and Dames of Malta, and the Columbiettes.

Through a litany of examples the cardinal showed the inherent value of life does not depend on money, prestige, power or anything of the sort. It doesn’t matter if a baby is in inside the womb or outside; if a person is handicapped or an athlete; if someone is from Hollywood or Harlem—all life is sacred to God.

“Jesus is always on the side of the underdog,” the cardinal said, explaining with great feeling that Jesus is drawn to the leper, children, the beggar, and the sick.

He noted the upcoming March for Life on Jan. 22 in Washington, D.C., which remembers the somber anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion across the United States. That decision, the cardinal said, surmises that life can be thrown away for reasons like convenience.

The cardinal said that is no way is the message Jesus came to share with us. With conviction, he said, “All life is sacred. No life is disposable.”

Mass-goers in the cathedral showed their support for the cardinal’s remarks by offering applause at the conclusion of his homily.

“There is strength in numbers, when you can get a large amount of people to show support, it’s good,” said Nicholas Blasone, a Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus Council 306 who is a parishioner of St. Francis de Chantal in the Bronx.

He told CNY that he agreed with the cardinal’s homily, saying, “We do live in a throwaway culture. The cardinal said a lot of things that were not just about the unborn but about life in general and how life is a gift from God.”