By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

Faithful of all ages gathered Jan. 22 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, to pray for a different tomorrow, one free of abortion, at the annual Mass for Life.

PHOTO GALLERY: 2019 Mass for Life in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral

There, with one voice and one heart, clergy, students and adults joined for an end to abortion, legalized 46 years ago to the day when the Supreme Court rendered its Roe v. Wade decision.

“Coming together for the dignity of life is why we are here,” Msgr. Joseph L. Roldan, Cathedral rector, said in his homily. “Everyone is created in the image and likeness of God. [We so often] ask ourselves what has gone wrong in our society when the dignity of every human being is not recognized by so many people. When that dignity is not recognized with love, we have failed.”

“Today in this Cathedral, we recognize and pray for all those who have no concept of what [the love of God] is all about,” he continued. “Pro-lifers know what the human condition is all about and can help others to understand” that in this quest to overturn abortion, the issue is “not just a religious issue. It’s a human issue.”

Every human being, from the moment of conception on, he said, “needs to be treated with respect, with true love for others. That is what God wants. The most perfect love was shared by Jesus on the Cross. … This love is not selfish.”

To get the message of life across, Msgr. Roldan said it needs to be loving. Indeed, the opposite of this love is not hate, but the inability to see others as “persons with dignity but to use them as objects” and when that happens, as in the case of abortion, “we have to take a stand.”

He urged everyone to put love at the center of that stand, to engage when encountering people who support abortion as a mother would who has “sacrificed her body and career for the child in her womb. “Those who don’t comprehend, don’t criticize them but show them love. Let us go out and reach out and show them love and share friendship.”

“Without love, misunderstanding reigns. Let us celebrate life in fullness, as Christian Catholics, and share the message of the dignity of life. And most of all, thank you for your courage and strength and love,” he said.

The Mass, celebrated by Msgr. Roldan and concelebrated by a number of priests from the Diocese, was followed immediately by a walk to the nearby State House Annex for the annual Rally for Life.

Bundling up her seven-month-old son, Luke, for the walk was Jennifer Corcoran of  Mary Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown. 

“This day is a time to see the strength and love of the pro-life community,” she said. “It’s always important to be here.”