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“You Matter”: God’s Truth Shines Through at the March for Life

At his first March for Life, seminarian Matthew Chartier witnesses the message of our inherent God given value and reminds us to renew our call to share the truth of God’s love

by Editorial Team

By Matthew Chartier, Diocese of Marquette, third-year theologian

“You matter!”

This short, simple sentence holds a lot of weight. We live in a society where these short, simple, two-word sentences are so easily forgotten. We forget that God is our Father. We forget that we are created to be his sons and daughters.

The March for Life should remind us of this. This was my first time going to the March for Life. I have prayed outside abortion clinics and even prayed with someone who had an abortion, but this was my first time in Washington D.C. praying in front of the Supreme Court building for the end of abortion. 

“You matter!” Fr. Mike Schmitz, a priest of Duluth, Minnesota, proclaimed this over and over again before we marched on the streets of Washington D.C. It is such a basic truth, but we live in a society that has forgotten our dignity. Our society holds that at some point our lives didn’t have value, dignity, or even the right to life. This affects all of us. We all, at different points in our lives, forget the dignity and value God has given us. We forget that God made us and loves us at every moment of our lives. We must not forget! This was the truth that I was called to remember at the March for Life. 

We look at people differently and we treat people differently when we know that we are sons and daughters of God the Father from the moment that our lives began. It is our job as Christians to bring this truth to the world. It was refreshing going on the March for Life with my fifteen classmates to proclaim these truths, and to pray for the truth of life to be realized by all. Each and every one of us matters. We must remind ourselves and others of this fundamental truth of the Christian life. 

Remind yourself just as the Lord reminded the prophet Jeremiah when he was calling him to proclaim God’s word to Israel, that God tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” God is calling each one of us, and he has a purpose for us. As we fight for life, we fight for God by reminding everyone of the value and dignity that is given to us by God alone.

Photos credit: Michael Bruno Selvaraj

by Editorial Team

Editorial Team

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.