Relay for Life a Chance to Put Faith into Action

Katrina Avila, Class of 2012
March 28, 2012
Filed under Quill

To be part of a service like Relay for Life is to share in God’s mission to spread His Kingdom in history. There is no need to sit back and allow a disease to take the lives of so many people. No one can say that they have never been affected by cancer. Almost everyone has been touched by cancer, either through their own personal battle or that of someone they love.

Relay helps all of its participants to grow in faith, due to being an expression of public service for the good of all, by educating society on the importance of respecting and protecting the dignity of all individuals. The point is that through Relay, I serve my brothers and sisters. What matters is not why I relay, but that I relay.

I am fortunate to be part of an amazing group of fellow young adults who make up the Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) chapter here at the Catholic University of America. Through CAC, I am able to help initiate and support programs of the American Cancer Society here at CUA. I participate with Relay for Life at CUA because I want to make a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer. I want to be able to show love towards those who face adversity because, in turn, I cannot experience God unless I love my brothers and sisters, and I cannot love my brothers and sisters without experiencing God. By choosing to fight for the lives of existing and future patients by donating my time and money to the American Cancer Society – so it can continue to find new treatments that fight cancer cells and improve the quality of life for those living with cancer – is one of the ways I’m experiencing God.

Protecting the value of life is exactly what Relay aims for, where everyone has the fundamental right to more birthdays. It’s not too late to sign up for this year’s Relay! Sign up today at cuarelay.org and a week from today (Friday March 30th starting at 8 p.m.), you can be part of a movement on campus that is bigger than all of us. Together we can create a world with less cancer and more birthdays!