Archbishop: Encountering Christ in Eucharist, others is central to promoting life
Emily Mingus, a member of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Indianapolis, beams as she receives the Archbishop O’Meara Respect Life Award from Archbishop Charles C. Thompson during the Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 6. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)
By Natalie Hoefer
Across central and southern Indiana—and across the country—the Catholic Church celebrates Respect Life Month in October, with the first weekend of the month marked by Respect Life Sunday.
The theme this year selected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is “I came so that they might have life” (Jn 10:10).
Archbishop Charles C. Thompson reflected on that theme in his homily during the archdiocese’s Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 6.
Two archdiocesan awards were also presented at the end of the Mass. Emily Mingus of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Indianapolis received the Archbishop O’Meara Respect Life Award, and Julia Langdon of St. Lawrence Parish in Lawrenceburg received the Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award.
In promoting life, both recipients embody the archbishop’s comment in his homily that “no life is a thing or a problem but a person of inherent dignity.”
‘Seek to encounter the person of Jesus’
The USCCB chose an image of the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance to accompany the Respect Life theme.
Archbishop Thompson explained that the design “reflects the importance of grounding efforts on behalf of life in the Eucharist, while eliciting our response to inherently include respect for the dignity of every person in sacredness of all human life.”
The Eucharist is not a thing or an event, he noted, but “a person to be encountered.”
Likewise, he said, “We seek to encounter the person of Jesus Christ in others and lead others to a personal encounter with him through our witness of faith.”
By such witness, others can come to know not just Christ, but their worth as beloved children of God.
This witness is something all Christians are called to take part in, Archbishop Thompson said, noting that “Respect Life Sunday provides a wonderful opportunity to renew our commitment to the sanctity of life, proclaiming the dignity inherent in every person as created in the image of God.”
That dignity begins at conception and ends at natural death. Thus, promoting life spans more than the issue of abortion—and involves more than opposing actions.
“We do not combat the evils of abortion, divorce, euthanasia, racism, sexism, scapegoating, the death penalty and so many other forms of injustice because we are against certain behaviors or policies,” Archbishop Thompson said. “We do so because of what we stand for, taking to heart the words of Jesus, ‘I came so that they might have life.’
“This is what motivates our authentic engagement in the various means of advocacy, defense and proclamation of human life.”
In closing, the archbishop offered a reminder: “Each opportunity to encounter [Christ] in the Eucharist or the lives of others is a grace moment. May we never take a single such moment for granted.”
‘Standing for babies, but also for women’
Mingus felt a call specifically to encounter Christ in—and witness Christ to—women experiencing a crisis pregnancy after June 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
“I think the beginning was a desire after that decision, wanting to reinvigorate a walking with women and letting women know that the Church isn’t just standing for babies, but also for women and their dignity as well,” says Mingus, a married mother of two small children.
That desire led to Mingus feeling called to reinvigorate St. Joan of Arc’s respect life ministry. She raises awareness in the parish of dignity-of-life issues and events through bulletin inserts and a ministry webpage she redesigned. And she broadened the ministry’s scope to examine all issues in society that affect human life, inviting the parish to engage with these issues more deeply.
Mingus’ work as music therapist at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s St. Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis informs her promotion of life at all stages.
“I recognized that the Lord was calling me to not just focus on moms as a mom myself, but also to just really engage with all the areas of life—with the elderly, with mental health, with grief, with loss, with so many different avenues,” she said.
‘The biggest injustice in our day’
Julia Langdon smiles as she holds the Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award presented to her by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson during the Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 6. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)
Julia Langdon’s involvement in promoting the dignity of all life was inspired by pro-life advocate Lila Rose, who founded the pro-life organization Live Nation in 2003 at the age of 15.
Rose wrote a book in 2021 called Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded World.
“I read her book, and then later on I listened to it a couple times because it was so good,” said Julia, 17. She listened to Rose’s podcast and was further inspired.
It was around that same time that
Julia and her family were welcomed into the full communion of the Church at
St. Lawrence Parish in Lawrenceburg during the Easter Vigil Mass there on April 8, 2023.
“She brought with her a burning desire to stand for all human life, and pro-life matters seem to be a mission for her,” wrote parish youth minister Kim Sprague in nominating Julia for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award.
Sprague noted that, due to the Langdon family’s location near the Indiana-Ohio border, much of the young woman’s
pro-life activity takes place in Cincinnati, where she and a group of Catholic youths pray outside a Planned Parenthood abortion center “October through April every Wednesday, rain or shine.”
In November 2023, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access. Prior to the vote, Julia worked for Protect Women Ohio, raising awareness of the effects of abortion on women as well as the unborn.
She now volunteers with a Cincinnati Right to Life group, canvassing one Saturday morning a month to promote conversation around the need to care for the life of the unborn.
“I think abortion is the biggest injustice in our day,” said Julia. “And I think that it’s most important that we stand for those who can’t stand for themselves.” †
Related: See photos from the annual Life Chain events around the archdiocese
