Diocese of Lafayette
‘Everybody is a somebody, and every somebody matters’
Sixth-graders at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel join in pro-life service project
Students display a pro-life banner during a recent presentation to sixth-graders at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School. (Photo by Kevin Cullen)
By Kevin Cullen (The Catholic Moment)
CARMEL — Abby Schmid is 11 years old and she mourns the 3,000 to 4,000 babies killed by abortion every day in the United States.
“It’s wrong. Why are we doing this?” said the sixth-grader at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School. On March 26, she and her 75 classmates heard a pro-life presentation, then used their imaginations to “spiritually adopt” and name each baby.
The names were written on 4,000 small white flags that were to be planted in the church lawn, facing 146th Street, on April 4 — “Memorial Day for the Unborn.” The words “Life Is Precious” appear on each flag. Banners will explain the symbolism of the flags, and offer information on where to get help. Organizers hope it becomes an annual event.
“I think we should keep standing up, and noticing, and challenging (abortion),” Schmid said. “We should try to stop it. Life is a precious gift.” The pro-life message, so much a part of the Catholic faith, is instilled in the students at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish. Schmid prays for aborted babies and has visited a marker erected in their memory.
“Memorial Day for the Unborn,” a class-level service project, was coordinated by Lexie Seall, eighth-grade language arts teacher at the school. She heads a leadership team that develops service projects for students in grades kindergarten through eight. Dina Ferchmin, coordinator of the parish Pro-Life Committee, spoke to the sixth-graders. Her message was pre-approved by the pastor, Father Richard Doerr.
Ferchmin became involved in the pro-life movement at age 12, in Puerto Rico. She circulated petitions, and, with others, successfully pressured a radio station to drop ads for an abortion clinic. “This is serious. I believe God especially listens to the prayers of children,” she said.
In her presentation, Ferchmin did not use graphic photos or talk about sex or contraception. She didn’t provide detailed information on abortion, either. Instead, she focused on the message that God created each person for a special purpose, and that every life is precious in his eyes.
“If (the baby) has a disability or illness, it doesn’t mean that God made a mistake,” she said. “Lots of times, people are brought to holiness through these people.” She defined abortion in general terms, and talked about the number of abortions performed: roughly 1.3 million a year; 50 million since abortion was legalized in the United States in 1973.
She also discussed why some women believe they need to get rid of their unborn children. Some don’t understand that each person is special to God, she said, and others don’t think an unborn baby is a baby. The students were shown fetal development posters, approved by the late Pope John Paul II, so they could see how a baby grows inside the womb, and is alive from conception to birth.
Ferchmin told the students what they can do to help the pro-life movement. She suggested that they pray for babies and their parents, and show compassion for those who felt they should abort their babies. Another important aspect, she said, is to create awareness. The flag project, she said, was one way young people could show the public that each unborn baby has an identity.
“It’s important to get this information to them, in an extremely age-appropriate way, so they can really understand it without being horrified and shocked,” said sixth-grade teacher Sister Mary Ruth, OP. When the flags are flapping on the lawn, “I hope people realize that we care about, and God cares about, each individual life,” she said. “So many people are hurt by abortion. They will see that they can come and get help at a church that cares.”
Sixth-grader Matthew Wehrli, 12, called abortion a “huge issue that should be debated and brought to the attention of everybody.” “It feels great to be part of this,” he said.
Wehrli said he hopes that motorists will slow down to look at the field of flags and think about what’s going on in the United States, 4,000 times a day. “Everybody is a somebody,” he said, “and every somebody matters.”
(Go to the website of The Catholic Moment) †