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As judged by the WA State Knights of Columbus Council for 2024 –

1st Place Pro-Life Essay by St. Mark student Nicholas Yen ~ and 1st Place Pro-Life Poster Contest Winner St. Mark Student Stella Faraon! Congratulations!

By Nicholas Yen~ Throughout life, there are few forces greater than the love of a parent towards its child. This love grows increasingly greater when partnered with the love of the child’s relatives. Yet even throughout the dwindling years of our precious childhood, barriers can form between us and our friends, siblings, and even parents. And yet I know, through the experiences of my loving relatives, that although these barriers may never be fully broken, hope is always there, and with God’s help, friends, siblings, and parents, can laugh together once more.

We, as human beings, are capable of bringing joy and purpose into the lives of many, and yet, we are endangered before we leave the womb, before we can see our mothers loving eyes for the first time. So many of our siblings in the Lord, strangled by greed, walk the streets of our cities every day, helping sin to overcome even the innocent. People who believe in abortion should not be seen as evildoers, but as our corrupted brethren, waiting for a glimpse of purpose in their darkly lit lives. Abortion is not a way to “relieve a poor womens stress”, it is the cause of a loss so great that over 50 million people, who could have felt their mothers love, brought joy to others, played with other kids at the park, ran, walked ,cried, and talked, have died. While the opposition might feel that no true life is lost, it was a “potential” life, a life that could have been or done anything. So how can one truly believe that a life was not lost, when they themselves believe that they came from their mothers womb, when they themselves don’t just believe, but live the truth that from conception, a new life is brought forth? And if not, when then, would life truly begin, when you can wiggle your toes, hear you mothers voice, laugh, or smile? Our world is worn with greed, jealousy, lust, and so many more vices. There danger depicted through Mathew 13:7-8, “7 Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Jesus’ parable is not restricted to an illustration of poor faith, but can be seen as a calling to live His order to, “Go forth, and multiply”, or bring Him faithful followers.

Yet, how can we as a loving, Christian community, persuade victims of greed, not just to think of themselves, but of the life they are willing to end in order give themselves the life they desire? When we encounter a brother or sister in need, a smile, or point in the correct direction could be all that is needed, but our Lord believes that we can do more than the bare minimum for our brethren. We, as proud members of a community, who try our best to live pious lives, must live in our faith, we must spread love wherever we go. Do not despise those who have sinned in your knowledge, for a sin which is confessed is forgotten, while a sin which is not confessed is remembered, pondered, and wrapped in lies so as to keep its bearer’s mind at ease. Be away with your confessed sins, there is little worse than continuing to let oneself be enslaved by that which they had sought forgiveness. In the end, all that matters is that we love those who seek love, help those who need help, and bring meaning into the lives of many. And we must ask ourselves, when Jesus asks if we have given him food in His hunger, water in His thirst, shelter in His homelessness, visited Him in sickness or in prison, can we truly, honestly, state that we have, can we truly look back on our lives and find memories of those actions? In some ways, abortion is the next question of faithfulness in our lives.