While most college students justifiably enjoy sleeping in on weekends, dozens of Franciscan University students rose early on Saturday, Sept. 13, for a 7:30 a.m. pro-life Mass at the Tomb of the Unborn. 

The Mass, celebrated by Rev. Shawn Roberson, TOR, memorialized unborn babies lost to abortion. Students gathered in Christ the King Chapel to honor these innocent victims and pray for the pro-life movement. 

In his homily, Rev. Shawn drew a connection between abortion and the recent surge in violence across the United States. “The seeds of death have come up in our country,” he said. He argued that these seeds were planted with the legalization of abortion, which laid the foundation for a “culture of death” in America. Now, he said, “death is coming in our face” with horrific events like school shootings. 

How can this violent culture be defeated? Rev. Shawn said the answer lies in relying on God’s grace, not our own efforts. “We have to take up the Cross and look to the Lord,” he said. Only through Christ, he emphasized, will the culture of death finally collapse. 

After Mass, Rev. Shawn led a procession to the Tomb of the Unborn Child, which was built in 1987 to hold the remains of seven aborted babies. There, he led a rosary to honor the unborn and pray for an end to the culture of death in America. 

Rev. Shawn encouraged students to be “a sign of contradiction,” filling the world with light in contrast to the darkness of sin. He reminded them that, as Catholics, they are called to fight evils like abortion, which spread that darkness. The Mass and procession at the Tomb of the Unborn provided students with an opportunity to do just that.