Participants learn Choices Matter at annual conference

This is a great day to examine our relationship between modern culture and faith,” Bishop James F. Checchio assured some 150 guests inside the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, March 16 for the 2024 Choices Matter Conference. Attendees included the deaconate candidates of the classes of 2024 and 2027, and some of their wives.

The 23rd such conference, sponsored by the diocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity, featured three dynamic speakers, prayer, fellowship and the opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions, beginning with Mass in the chapel with the Bishop as principal celebrant.

Considering the differences which arose among God’s people during Christ’s lifetime, “we shouldn’t be surprised or shocked that division arises among us,” said Bishop Checchio at the start of his homily. “The focus needs to stay on Christ, draw close to Him,” he said, adding, “I doubt most of us deny Jesus by our words, but rather our actions or inactions.”

The Bishop shared some sobering statistics: in 2022, 91 New Jerseyans died as a result of physician assisted suicide via the Medical Aid in Dying Law (a significant increase since 2020 when there were only 23), and an estimated 41% of N.J. households are among the working poor.

“The transformation of our culture requires continual conversion of our own lives,” said Bishop Checchio. “We can recognize in every person the face of Christ and place their needs before our own. To be pro-life is to allow the love of the Eucharist to overflow into our lives and into the lives of all we meet each day.”

Jennifer Ruggiero, diocesan Secretary for the Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, pointed out, “Typically, we have speakers address a wide range of life issues.  In the past we have had doctors and other healthcare professionals present scientific information about beginning and end-of-life issues as well as theologians speak about Church teaching.  This year our focus was more on testimonials about why our choices matter and how love is a choice.  The feedback from our attendees was very positive.  I think people left feeling touched and encouraged.”

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Choosing life

Growing up in a gang-ridden section of Orange County, California, exposed Evie Lastra West to poverty, violence and a culture which encouraged gang membership and promiscuity, as she revealed in her presentation, “Revolving Choices: Playing Roulette with Life.” “I joined a gang as a matter of survival, but felt the hand of God on me,” West acknowledged.

Discovering she was pregnant at age 16, her parents banished her from her family home and sent her to live and attend Lee College in Cleveland, Tenn. “I felt the beginning of acceptance, and gave my life over to God,” she said. “I was so, so broken.” A second unplanned pregnancy forced West to take stock of her life; she gave the infant up for adoption, realizing “the Enemy wants you not to preach to others and says you are not worthy.”

Today West holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lee College in intercultural studies, a master’s degree in public safety from Tennessee Tech University, and has been a police officer for the City of Cleveland, Tenn., for more than 21 years. “God has me in this place to minister,” West reflected. “Look where God allows me to go because of this surrender. Every single day I want you to be used; your assignment is not over until you are dead.”

 

A Saint’s Gentle Touch

“Though Mother Teresa has been with God for 26 years,” said Jim Towey, the saint’s trusted advisor and friend, “she still continues to teach us.” In his presentation “St. Teresa of Calcutta – Love is a Choice,” Towey regaled the audience with humorous and poignant stores of working with the future saint, volunteering work with the poor and learning “we were called to love … it is part of our human existence.”

“Mother Teresa was the most Mary-like person next to Mary herself,” said Towey. The lawyer, White House staff member and holder of seven honorary doctorate degrees met the Albanian nun in 1985, and “she was everything I wasn’t. She was a woman of grit.” Her care for the sick and dying, even patients with AIDS, reinforced the Catholic Church’s stance on end-of-life care.

Illness and mortality are inevitable, and “there is no authentic Christian life without a cross,” he said. “We can change the world around us. God doesn’t call me to be successful, God calls me to be faithful.”

In 2016, Towey was privileged to offer the first reading at the Mass of Canonization for Mother Teresa celebrated by Pope Francis and held in St. Peter’s Square, Rome.

 

Showing the right path

Kevin Dunn, a Canadian broadcaster, television host and filmmaker, had the audience on their feet and singing at the start of his presentation “Prophets of Hope in a Culture of Fear.”

For the past 15 years, he has focused his attention on producing films and documentaries on social justice issues such as the erosion of the family, abortion and euthanasia. Dunn shared excerpts and trailers of his work, which uniformly promoted respect for life.

“You are the prophets of hope. I want you to be well equipped,” Dunn said as filmed images of families and doctors strongly persuaded ailing patients to choose to end their own lives medically. “Why are people asking for death? God said ‘Do not be afraid.’ When we embrace the cross with joy… Only God knows what is in store.”

Dunn showed graphics which revealed a growing number of U.S. states, Canadian provinces and countries across the globe are passing legislation to offer medical aid in dying. He concluded, “There is a call for all of us to choose hope over fear. Practice the power of your presence; simple acts done with love change the world.”