Upcoming Events View All
19
Labyrinth Anniversary Celebration

Tuesday, 03/19/2024 at 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM

24
St. Vincent de Paul Annual Palm Sunday Dinner

Sunday, 03/24/2024 at 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM

24
Black Women Poets: Vision and Voice

Sunday, 03/24/2024 at 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

24
Annual Legion of Mary Acies

Sunday, 03/24/2024 at 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM

2
Speaker: Social Media and Teen Mental Health

Tuesday, 04/02/2024 at 6:30 PM

5
6
St. Mark Book Fair

Saturday, 04/06/2024 at 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

7
Poet Laureates Alive: Smith, Harjo, and Limon with Noeli Lytton

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

7
Divine Mercy Sunday

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 2:00 PM

10
Where Art Serves the World

Wednesday, 04/10/2024 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Like fingerprints, a human is created uniquely to love and be loved by God

Fingerprints are by far Sister Bethany Madonna’s favorite of all God’s creations.

“Fingerprints identify you as the only you — whoever has been or ever will be,” she said. “Out of the millions and billions of people who have ever existed on the face this earth, no two have ever had the same set of fingersprints.”

If God took so much time to create the unique, invisible pattern on the end of a finger, how much more time has He put into the love in each person’s heart, asked the the Sister of Life, who spoke to Generation Life pilgrims Jan. 18.

Like a fingerprint, love is distinct to each person. “No one can love like you — no one,” she said. “No one can receive God’s love the way that you receive love into your heart. No one else can love God in the way that you specifically uniquely love Him. And he longs for it. He desires your love.”

The Sisters of Life are a contemplative/active religious community of women founded in 1991 by Cardinal John O’Connor in New York to protect sacredness of all human life. The sisters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, as well as a fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. The sisters have several apostolates, including assistance for pregnant women in need, a maternity home and post-abortion retreat ministry. Several native St. Louisans are members of the community of about 100.

The women they serve have been threatened and abadoned and feel they have no other choice but to seek an abortion, Sister Bethany Madonna said earlier that day in an interview at the March for Life. She called it a prvilege to walk with these women and surround them with support.

“They have experienced a ton of fear,” she said. “It’s only after the fact, after they’ve experienced (abortion) they realize really their deepest desire was to give life and nurture their child. Their regret is very deep and painful.”

Sister Bethany Madonna later that evening shared with teens the story of a high school student who stopped at the sisters’ convent. She’d recently found out she was pregnant and first stopped at Planned Parenthood. While sitting in the waiting room, she found tucked in a magazine a Sisters of Life brochure. While it remains a mystery how the brochure made it there — “As a sister I can’t do anything incognito,” she quipped — it clearly was a miracle that it ended up in the woman’s hands.

After several hours of conversation with a novice at the convent, the young woman decided against an abortion. “She’s like, ‘I’m doing this. This baby is a blessing and I need to change my life.’”

A person’s circumstances may change, but a newly conceived life does not,” Sister Bethany Madonna said. “Jesus came to her and gave her the grace so she could continue with this.”

If we allow the Lord to enter into the places in our lives where we feel the most vulnerable, great things can happen, she said. His love is meant to be a gift shared with others.

“God sees each and every human person as they are, and no matter how weak or poor or sick or rejected, He sees his beloved, one for whom He is willing to give up his life,” she said.

Related Articles Module

From the Archive Module

Like fingerprints a human is created uniquely to love and be loved by God 3542

Must Watch Videos

Now Playing

    View More Videos