Late last week the pro-life community lost a great friend and warrior. Mark Lally died on Thanksgiving, having labored for over 25 years for the protection and preservation for the pro-born, the aged, the infirmed, and all those vulnerable to anti-life philosophy and teaching.
Today I would like to take a moment to give thanks for a man who was many things, among them a friend, counselor, leader - and foremost, a child of God.
Mark served on the Greater Columbus Right to Life Board of Trustees for over 25 years. While helping to lead local pro-life efforts, he also worked with Ohio Right to Life, first as a volunteer, then as president of the Board, and finally as legislative counsel. He was well-loved and respected by people on both sides of life issues.
Mark loved his family and his whole face would light up whenever he talked to me about them. I enjoyed asking him about his nieces and nephews as much to see that expression on his face as I did to hear him tell me about his family. To say that he cared deeply about the pro-life cause does not do him justice, because what Mark cared about was not just a "cause" but the people that our cause represents - the pre-born, the aged, the infirmed, the medically vulnerable - anyone and everyone whose life is considered less valuable than another's simply because of their age, ability, or any other characteristic. He devoted his life's work to protecting life and to promoting the understanding that every life is sacred and has an intrinsic value that cannot be measured or quantified.
I cannot tell you how greatly Mark will be missed. Greater Columbus Right to Life will miss his wisdom, passion, and experience, as will the pro-life movement throughout the entire state. We will miss his friendship, his determination, and his love for us and for the people for whom he fought.
It is in moments like this that I am especially thankful for these comforting words from our Lord in his Holy Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:44b-58, emphasis mine):
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Mark gave himself fully to the work of the Lord and now he rests in the Lord. Rest well, dear brother. While we mourn our great loss, we rejoice for you as you enter into the presence of the Lord.
Ruth Yorston
Executive Director
Greater Columbus Right to Life
Calling Hours
Tue, Nov 30
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
7:00 - 9;00 p.m.
Rutherford Corbin Funeral Home
515 High St.
Worthington, OH 43085
Mass of Christian Burial
Wed, Dec 1
Our Lady of Peace Church
20 E. Dominion Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43214
Today I would like to take a moment to give thanks for a man who was many things, among them a friend, counselor, leader - and foremost, a child of God.
Mark served on the Greater Columbus Right to Life Board of Trustees for over 25 years. While helping to lead local pro-life efforts, he also worked with Ohio Right to Life, first as a volunteer, then as president of the Board, and finally as legislative counsel. He was well-loved and respected by people on both sides of life issues.
Mark loved his family and his whole face would light up whenever he talked to me about them. I enjoyed asking him about his nieces and nephews as much to see that expression on his face as I did to hear him tell me about his family. To say that he cared deeply about the pro-life cause does not do him justice, because what Mark cared about was not just a "cause" but the people that our cause represents - the pre-born, the aged, the infirmed, the medically vulnerable - anyone and everyone whose life is considered less valuable than another's simply because of their age, ability, or any other characteristic. He devoted his life's work to protecting life and to promoting the understanding that every life is sacred and has an intrinsic value that cannot be measured or quantified.
I cannot tell you how greatly Mark will be missed. Greater Columbus Right to Life will miss his wisdom, passion, and experience, as will the pro-life movement throughout the entire state. We will miss his friendship, his determination, and his love for us and for the people for whom he fought.
It is in moments like this that I am especially thankful for these comforting words from our Lord in his Holy Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:44b-58, emphasis mine):
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Mark gave himself fully to the work of the Lord and now he rests in the Lord. Rest well, dear brother. While we mourn our great loss, we rejoice for you as you enter into the presence of the Lord.
Ruth Yorston
Executive Director
Greater Columbus Right to Life
Calling Hours
Tue, Nov 30
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
7:00 - 9;00 p.m.
Rutherford Corbin Funeral Home
515 High St.
Worthington, OH 43085
Mass of Christian Burial
Wed, Dec 1
Our Lady of Peace Church
20 E. Dominion Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43214
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