Saturday, September 16, 2006

Morning/Mourning

This morning some of the Secular Franciscans met to attend daily Mass and then headed off to honor our former Spiritual Assistant, who passed away in the spring.

We didn't honor Father Christian by planting a tree, dedicating a statue, or taking up a collection for charity.

Today, we took his place, in a place where he stood every Saturday morning after Mass. We stood in front of the local abortion mill and prayed the Rosary.

Taking turns leading the Joyful Mysteries, the irony of remembering the Nativity of Our Lord while praying at an abortion mill was not lost on me.

It was a busy morning at the Women's Center. At least three young women were ushered in by the clinic escorts, who were built like bouncers and probably hired to be intimidating to people like our little group. But we weren't there to confront anyone. We were just there to pray.

A member of our group observed, when we had completed our prayers, that someone (maybe several someones) hadn't made it out of that mill alive today. Another member suggested that we pray again, a special prayer, for those who had come to that mill and others like it, feeling so desperate that they believed that their only course of action was to kill their unborn children.

May God bless those little babies who will never be born. May God console those young women who will have to live with their "choices" and may He have mercy on those who encourage women to make such a choice.

No comments: