On a warm autumn evening, David Brady and a dozen of his fellow parishioners from St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish in Matteson planted 150 white crosses in the ground along Governors Highway, a well-traveled road in their South suburban town. The group’s Sept. 29 act calls attention to what David Brady, St. Lawrence O’Toole’s Respect Life coordinator, terms “the Holocaust of abortion.” “Each white cross represents a child losing his or her life to abortion,” Brady said. “We want to bring attention to this.” Earlier in September, the parish Respect Life group asked parishioners to sponsor a white cross for $10, eventually raising $1,400 for the project. The public display, on St. Lawrence O’Toole’s Governors Highway property just south of Route 30, is just one of the parish’s Respect Life Month activities. On Oct. 2-3, Father James Heyd, Cardinal George’s delegate to prolife ministry, presided over St. Lawrence O’Toole’s weekend Masses and shared a pro-life homily. On four October Saturdays, parishioners will hold ecumenical services to pray for life. “The more people start thinking about abortion and discussing it, the less we believe they will accept it as something that just happens,” Brady said. “Something this important — the sanctity of human life — deserves more action and public exposure.” Across the archdiocese during October’s Respect Life Month, dozens of local parishes are sharing the spirit and dedication of St. Lawrence O’Toole, highlighting and advancing dialogue about prolife issues, including abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia and embryonic stem-cell research. “Respect Life Month is fully dedicated to protecting the dignity and sanctity of all human life and centralized in loving and caring for one another,” said Margie Breen, the interim director and program manager for the archdiocese’s Respect Life Office. This year’s theme is “The measure of love is to love without measure” and many parishes are hosting prayer services, providing information in church bulletins and spreading a pro-life message to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. “The parishes are important because we have to get the word out,” Breen said. “We need to let people know that support, compassion, mercy, hope and healing are all available.” During Respect Life Month, various local parishes will be hosting novenas or holy hours, offering Respect Life petitions at Mass, and praying for a culture of life to prevail. On the education front, bulletin articles and guest speakers will provide information on prolife issues. Public policy and pastoral care complete the bishops’ four-point plan. Some parishes will hold letter- writing campaigns to local political representatives sharing their pro-life values and viewpoints. Many parishes will then showcase pastoral care programs, such as Catholic Charities’ initiatives to help pregnant women and Project Rachel, a post-abortion healing ministry.