Bishop Noll students learn about respecting all life as part their Catholic education and a recent all-school prayer service gave them even more insight into what mercy and compassion for others truly means.
On Oct. 25, the school’s Campus Ministry Team organized a special all-school prayer service in honor of Respect Life Month. Students assembled in the fieldhouse where they listened to readings and reflections of mercy from classmates and guest speaker, Nicole Varela.
Varela, a Merrillville native, spoke about the challenges she faced in elementary school and beyond. She explained that although she had a learning disability and others did not see her potential, she was determined to prove them wrong. Her hard work paid off, as she is now a master’s student at Erikson Institute in Chicago, where she has worked with orphans in Nicaragua and volunteers at the Fussy Baby Network, an organization that empowers parents of children with challenges. She encouraged Bishop Noll students to be somebody because they will find mercy within themselves.
“Mercy is contagious. It spreads wherever it is planted … mercy and compassion and general kindness isn’t just for people who look like us or who speak like us or who even believe what we believe in, but mercy and compassion are for the least of our people.”
Right to life is about human dignity 24/7, said Noll Campus Minster Stacia Bolakowski. “Sometimes I think that when we hear the term ‘Right to Life,’ we believe it only focuses on the big issues in the news on a regular basis: abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia to name a few. It is about those issues, but it is also about how we interact with and treat people, animals, and the planet on a daily basis. (Varela’s) talk helped us to remember that.”
Noll senior and Campus Ministry member Tatiana Lopez said that she hopes her fellow students learned the value and importance of every life and that we are all important and brought into the world for a reason.
“The prayer service was important to me because every day I turn on the news or just scroll onto my Facebook page and just see how many people commit suicide or commit an abortion. I know that no one is perfect and not everyone is happy, but that is why there are many people that surround us to which we can go seek help so that they can guide us into the correct path. Death is never the answer, guidance and comfort can heal all of the scars that one may hold in their hearts,” said Lopez, of East Chicago.
Noll junior and Campus Ministry member Serena Waszkiewicz said she hopes other students realize that respect is needed for everyone, not only aborted children.
“This prayer service was important to me because I think all lives are important and people should know that,” said Waszkiewicz, of Hammond and a St. Casimir School alum.
For more information on Bishop Noll, a Catholic college preparatory experience, visit bishopnoll.org.