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NEW BRUNSWICK — “Choices do matter,” declared Bishop James F. Checchio Nov. 2 at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Church. “We choose heaven by accepting God’s grace in our lives. By living that grace, sharing that grace with others, we make heaven seen on earth.”
To illustrate the many life-affirming choices available to the faithful of all ages, the diocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity and the Catholic Student Association of Rutgers University presented the day-long 2019 “Choices Matter” conference at the Rutgers Student Center. The program of speakers, exhibits, praise and worship music and fellowship began with the bishop presiding at Mass in the diocese’s oldest church, located across from the state university’s sprawling campus.
“What a great day for us to examine our relationship with modern culture and faith and how each influence our everyday decisions,” Bishop Checchio said in his homily. “Every choice we make, big or small, is an opportunity for us to further align ourselves with God’s will.”
Jennifer A. Ruggiero, who heads the diocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity, welcomed the group and noted this was the 18th such annual conference. This year’s title change from “Critical Life Issues” to “Choices Matter” served to remind participants their actions and evangelization made a difference.
Three speakers served to inform and galvanize the attendees to action.
In her keynote address, “From Top Model to Role Model,” Leah Darrow recalled her journey from insecure teen to becoming a finalist on the reality television competition “America’s Next Top Model,” and road to fame posing for national and international publications.
“I clearly made some choices to lead me down a certain path. They carried such heavy weight,” Darrow said. “Even though we are free to make choices, we are not free of the consequences of those choices. Christ is always in the mix.”
After early sexual experiences led to insecurity of her self-worth, the young woman decided a modeling career might help her regain her confidence. But God made known his displeasure at her profligate lifestyle, she recalled.
“During a photo shoot, I distinctly heard God tell me, ‘I made you for more,’” Darrow said. “My father came all the way to New York City to rescue me and bring me home.”
Darrow went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a master’s degree in theology at the Augustine Institute, Greenwood Village, Col. She created and hosts the “Do Something Beautiful” podcast, is author of “The Other Side of Beauty,” and co-founded the LUX Conference for young adult Catholic women.
The married mother of four, pregnant with her fifth child, shared, “I actively look for people who are better, smarter, and holier than me. We weren’t made for the comforts of this world. Heaven is not full of couch potatoes, but of people who fought and suffered for the love of God.”
Darrow concluded, “If you are still breathing, God is not done with you… The battle we fight is a spiritual battle. You may be the only copy of the Gospel people read.”
Patricia Sandoval’s presentation, “Transfigured: Escape from Drugs, Homelessness and the Back Doors of Planned Parenthood,” was a frank, autobiographical examination of the tailspin the now-married mother of a six-month-old had endured with the loss of her faith and lack of maternal guidance.
“I was devout as a child,” Sandoval remembered. “I sent love notes to God on balloons to heaven.” Her mother turned away from the faith just after young Patricia received her first holy Communion, leaving her open to the lies told to her middle-school classroom by a visiting Planned Parenthood representative.
“She kept saying [the fetus] was only blobs of tissue,” Sandoval said. “I also got mixed messages from my parents.” A quick succession of three abortions and employment in a Planned Parenthood clinic for a month was devastating enough to push her into drug abuse and homelessness.
“Who pays the price due to our sexual disorder? These innocents give their lives because we don’t know what truth is,” Sandoval said. “I went to a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat to repair the damage I had done. I went back to my father’s house and fell at his feet like the Prodigal Son. He said, ‘It’s okay. I love you. Welcome home.’”
In “The Ripple Effect of Choice,” Dr. Anthony Levatino stood beside his wife, Cecelia. He held aloft surgical tools and detailed their use in a typical, 15-minute abortion procedure.
“I was pro-choice when I graduated from medical school,” he admitted. He worked at Albany Medical Center (N.Y.) as an associate professor, medical student director and residency program director, all the while maintaining a private practice that terminated pregnancies.
“Over four years, I performed about 1,200 abortions, including second-trimester ones,” he said.
The turning point for him was the death of his young daughter because of a car accident. He stopped performing abortions, and he and his wife, a nurse, became pro-life advocates instead. Most recently, Levantino served as technical advisor to the movie “Unplanned,” and portrayed the doctor in the film.
Cecelia Levatino told the attendees they were there because they cared. “There is power in this room, in the Church, but it is not the job of the Church to tell you who to vote for," she said. "The Church sets up the moral framework to help you form your own conscience.
“It has been 46 years since Roe v. Wade and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Change it.”
