LIFENET will honor three Catholics in the Paterson Diocese during its 30th Anniversary Fundraising Gala, “A Child is Born,” on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 6 p.m. at the West-mount Country Club in Woodland Park.
Lisa Hart, president of Morris County Right to Life, will be honored with LIFENET’s Richard F. Collier Award for sacrificial leadership in the pro-life movement on behalf of babies in the womb. Mike Rose, a LIFENET board of directors member, and Faith Rose, a prominent respect life, chastity, and family advocate with Mike, will receive the organization’s Torchbearer of Life Award for passing to the next generation the light of truth of the sanctity of every human life.
LIFENET is a non-profit, pro-life organization that educates and empowers New Jersey communities and their youth with age-appropriate presentations and resources on various topics, including abortion, human sexuality, human dignity, and authentic love.
Answering the pro-life call
The LIFENET team first met Hart in 2015 when she volunteered at a “Pro-Life Summit” that LIFENET organized. In 2018, she was invited to join its board of directors.
Hart felt called to pro-life work 10 years ago. She led the pro-life ministry at St. Patrick Parish in Chatham for many years. She also joined Morris County Right to Life, serving as vice president for four years and now as president.
With LIFENET, Hart leads the 40 Days for Life Fall and Lenten campaigns across the street from Pilgrim Medical Center abortion facility in Montclair.
She has also organized many pro-life protests, marches, prayer vigils, and educational events. She also sidewalk counsels women considering an abortion outside abortion facilities in Morristown and Montclair. It works in support of the Red Rose Rescue movement.
Hart earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.
She has been married to her husband, Brian, for 37 years. They have four adult children and three small grandchildren.
Hart also is part of a Scripture study prison ministry and a part-time physical therapist.
Couple champions respect life, family message
Faith and Mike Rose met on a high school retreat and experienced a profound encounter with the Lord.
LIFENET’s Christine Flaherty first heard Mike speak at an event when he was a junior in the college seminary at Seton Hall University. She asked him to join LIFENET as a pro-life and chastity speaker, and he soon became an intern. Mike inspired friends like Faith to join. She later worked full-time for the organization from 2001 to 2004.
At Seton Hall, they led LIFENET’s first True Love Waits program for college students. Alongside LIFENET, they also led prayer vigils and conducted sidewalk counseling and crisis pregnancy interventions.
As interns, Mike, Faith, and their team produced LIFEFEST programs that featured original skits, videos, testimonies, and discussions about the value of human life and God’s vision for love, marriage, and family.
Mike earned a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall with a double major in philosophy and religious studies and a master’s degree in theology with a biblical studies certificate from the Augustine Institute.
In 2009, Faith gave a pro-life talk for LIFENET at a church that influenced Tara, an eighth-grader and an audience member, who later faced an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager. Inspired by Faith’s words, Tara chose life for her child despite significant opposition. She named her baby “Faith” after Faith Rose.
Mike and Faith married in 2005 and have eight children. Faith is the religious education director of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Boonton. She continues to lead an annual True Love Waits program for teens at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Rockaway and gives pro-life and chastity talks when needed.
Ten years ago, Faith brought the homeschooling Aquinas Learning Center to New Jersey and is co-president of the Little Way Cooperative. The Roses work with families preparing to baptize their children. They are second-degree members of the Apostolate for Family Consecration.
Mike is now a managing partner of Integrity Marketing and executive vice president of The Diversified Companies. He also serves on LIFENET’s board of directors and continues to give presentations on chastity, pro-life issues, fatherhood, and family when his schedule allows.
Gala tickets are $180 per person with an open bar and a Viennese Table. All proceeds will benefit LIFENET. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit lifeneteducation.org/gala or call 973-497-4520.
