Hi I'm Leah Darrow
and I'm here at Steubenville in New York City.
A lot of times people just hear the word "modest"
and number one, they don't know the definition of it. They don't know what it means
or they think that our ankles and our elbows are going to send us to hell if they're exposed.
That's just not the case, like God's going to save all of you, even your elbow.
And so modesty is really this interior disposition, right?
And it veils what always should be protected.
So, modesty is more than just clothing.
We should be conscious of our thoughts,
and our words, and our actions and those should all be ... have a like ... a little bit more of self control,
which is why the virtue of modesty is underneath the cardinal virtue of temperance,
which is just basically self control.
I think we all can agree that there should be a little more self-control in the world,
but when it comes to modesty in fashion because, of course, that has a role to play there as well,
modest fashion is fashion that always showcases the dignity of the person
and not just parts of the person
because clearly, there are fashions that especially women can wear today
that showcase only parts of the woman and that's not ... that's not what we are about.
I mean, yeah, we have this beautiful shape that God gave us,
but we want to veil that in a way that showcases our whole person and not just a few parts of us,
because we shouldn't be reduced to parts. We have more dignity than that.
And so that's why wearing something modestly that showcases our whole person ver- versus a part
is incredibly important, especially today in a very visual culture.
Fulton Sheen, number one, is my holy crush. I have a very holy, holy crush on him.
It's holy because he's dead and a priest, but I love him.
I pray one day that I can be with him in heaven and I can just sit there
and just chat with him all ... for eternity.
So Fulton Sheen says that "the dignity of every person is beyond our reckoning."
The dignity of the human person is beyond our reckoning
because it is the dignity bestowed upon us by God himself,
that God himself has bestowed dignity upon every soul that's ever been born or ever will be born.
I mean when you think about the gravity of that,
that's why it's so important for us to protect all life from conception to natural death
because we have dignity.
That little person, or that very old person, or all the people in between, should be treated with compassion and love
and respect and we should respect all life. And we have no idea the dignity that we truly have,
but if we always remember that our dignity is based in Jesus Christ,
and we treat people as such, I think we're gonna be a lot better off today.
I think being a woman is hard today, and then being a Catholic woman is ...
has an even more fun twist to it.
At the same time, being a Catholic woman in some ways,
I think is liberating in today's society.
I mean all of the things that want to enslave us to the idea that we are only as good as our body
or how we look or everything on the exterior,
I'm liberated [from] that through my Catholicism.
I'm liberated from that from my Faith.
So I know that I'm not just a collection of parts.
I know that I've got dignity. I know that I am NOT my sins.
I know that I am redeemed through Jesus Christ. My Faith gives me that.
I feel like I can move definitely better in the world as a woman today, because I'm also Catholic.
But being a woman definitely has its challenges. I mean, people kind of see women today as
just this vessel for something to be used or to take from,
and that women have to feel like they have to be so defensive about that now, too,
but there's something beautiful about our bodies and who we are,
and once again, I mean my Faith gives me that. My Faith gives me not just the instruction and the grace
from the sacraments, but it tells me number one, that I loved beyond measure,
that I have dignity beyond measure and nothing of the world can take that from me.
I am Leah Darrow and this is (dramatic voice) Ascension Presents.