In many of our churches, usually at the beginning of the evening Mass, the hymn “O Holy Night” is sung. It is a traditional hymn and carries with it, not only the story of the birth of Jesus, but also much sentiment and emotion because of its musical setting.

Firstly I want to thank you for inviting me to share a few words with you today on the importance of who we are – and what this means to us, to the system, and to the Church community as a whole.

Since June 2016, 15 months into the newly changed law, over 2,000 Canadians who applied for “medical assistance in dying” have died by procedures that previously were referred to as assisted suicide or euthanasia. Where does it leave those who believe that life as a gift of God is sacred?