Two honored for life-affirming work

METUCHEN – Fran Johnson is a retired schoolteacher. Frank McCann has years of experience in accounting. Both are parishioners of St. Matthias Parish in Somerset, and both were recently recognized for their efforts to support human life.

Johnson and McCann were honored by the Diocese of Metuchen during the annual diocesan Respect Life Mass and Pro-Vita Awards, held at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen, on Jan. 22, the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.

“There are always opportunities for us to show respect for life, we just have to pay attention around us and make the time to do something,” said Bishop James F. Checchio, who celebrated the Mass. “Each time we do so, you and I imitate God, and we are remolded and transformed; the image of God within us becomes clearer and clearer, we become more Godly, by acting like Him, by sharing in His creation of the world.”

The Pro-Vita Award, which has been bestowed to individuals in the diocese since 1998, is given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the pro-life cause. This year’s honorees, each in their own right, have been involved in pro-life work for decades. 

Johnson, who now serves as the director of the Pregnancy Aid and Information Center in Raritan Borough, an organization which she helped to found in 1979, has been involved in the pro-life movement since the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. Now, as director of the center, a position she assumed in August 2020, she continues to serve women facing unplanned or crisis pregnancies and navigate the challenges of providing services to mothers in need during a pandemic. 

McCann currently serves as the chairman for Somerset County Right to Life and also serves as the treasurer for NJ Right to Life, positions he has held for over a decade. He is actively involved in the planning of the Rally for Life, held in Trenton every January, and has served on the diocesan Critical Life Issues/Choices Matter Conference committee for over 10 years, where he helps to choose timely pro-life topics and speakers.

Standing at the pulpit and addressing those present in person, among them Johnson and McCann who were seated in the first pew, and those watching the livestream, Bishop Checchio said, “how we need this year to reflect on life, both the beginning and the end of life, and all the time in between.”

With the passing of the state’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in 2019 and now faced with the proposed Reproductive Freedom Act, which would protect and expand reproductive rights, including abortion, should Roe v. Wade be overturned, allowing abortion up until the baby in the womb is delivered, the bishop said the witness to life is needed more than ever.

“It is a good time for us to reflect on our ‘connectedness’ to one another,” he said. “We were all made in His image and likeness, as He knit us together in our mother’s womb. You and I are now asked by God, as recipients of that gift of life, to share in God’s very own plan of creation, to imitate Him in sharing life with others.” 

While the diocesan Respect Life Mass was held on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and on the same day the Catholic Bishops in New Jersey had called for a Day of Prayer and Fasting to end abortion, Bishop Checchio affirmed the need to respect all life.

“Just recently, the scourge of racism in our nation has become so apparent to us,” he said in his homily. “The very same reason is at the root of why we are against racism, as why we are against abortion and assisted suicide: we are all called to respect life, all life, as we are all made in the image and likeness of God. We cannot pick and choose.”

He said that while abortion and assisted suicide are two issues that must remain in the forefront, “we have to be concerned with all the ways we support life in between birth and natural death, and work to combat things such as racism, poverty, homelessness, and all those who have life needs that we encounter in our homes, towns and in our diocese.”

“God has created each of us in love, and He asks that we continue to promote His creation, remaking the world in His image by our witness. The opportunities for us to choose life are boundless,” said Bishop Checchio. “Today, with God’s grace, we are each called to recommit to cooperating with God’s plan through our actions and our words, by having our voices heard and by sharing the love of God with others.”

To watch a recording of the Mass and presentation of the Pro-Vita Awards, or to learn more about the Diocese of Metuchen’s efforts to safeguard human life, please visit: www.diometuchen.org/humanlifeanddignity.