Processing a Great Loss

As I’m sure most of you are aware, Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father of the Catholic Church announced his abdication yesterday. For those who are interested, here is the full text of his brief, humble, and profound speech, translated into English.

I am sad, of course, and I am shaken. I am sad because I am saying good-bye to a great man, a great mentor, a great father. I am shaken because it hurts to say good-bye.

I am not afraid. I know God is at work. I know, even in the face of vitriolic criticism, the Church will remain strong.

I am joyful, because I trust the Supreme Vicar of the Church, Jesus Christ. I trust my Father God. I know that the next pope called to guide our Church will, as all pontiffs have for two millenia now, carry on the teaching of Christ.

I admire my Pope for his discernment, as I admired his predecessor for his strength and conviction in persevering through a terrible, debilitating illness.

If you are Catholic, I join with you today in praying for the coming conclave. Let us invoke the intercession of our Holy Mother, as Pope Benedict did, that she may comfort and guide those whose duty it is to choose the newest Bishop of Rome.

If you are not Catholic, and you are wondering how to respond to Catholic friends or family, I offer this advice: Be kind. Be quiet. Listen. Offer your condolences for our loss. Offer no speculation. Give love. Respect our loss.

Blessed Pope John Paul II, pray for us, and for your brother, Pope Benedict XVI.

Someone Please Explain

I do not understand the world today.

My heart is breaking in ten million ways.

Someone please explain to me why our country calls this murder, yet calls this “choice”? In both instances, a mother killed four children. Please, I do not see the difference. I do not see it at all.

I was touched when our president shed tears for the murdered school children of Newtown, CT. But why is he not crying for their peers who died before they even had the chance to breathe? All those children who never got to open eyes and look on their mothers’ faces. Who never had the chance to walk through the doors of a school at all.

It has been estimated that nearly 1 of every 4 American children conceived is aborted.

Why is our nation not weeping for them?

500,000 people marched on the capitol this week. The New York Times refused to print an article about it—any article. This is the fifth year running.

No debate is allowed. No discussion is even considered.

Those who weep for the unborn; who give their money, time, and talents to crisis pregnancy centers; who adopt disabled children and pray rosaries and march with their little ones in the cold…these people are called bigots. Right-wing extremists. Pope worshippers. Deluded. Hateful.

For loving these children and their mothers—and their fathers—and speaking up for a child’s right to EXIST, they are punished. Their words are twisted and they are told they are evil. I know. Because I am one of them.

I have lost credibility. I have lost lifelong friends. It is hard—very hard—in my profession to stand for the life of the unborn, the aged, the incapacitated, the convict, the mentally disabled.

I do not speak out because I enjoy the idea of women having babies they don’t want.

EVERY BABY IS WANTED. If not by his or her parents, then by millions of people who want to give that child a chance to live and grow and touch this world.

I do not want to “punish” anyone with a baby. But a baby is not a punishment.

Someone please explain to me how a person can be a punishment?

Someone please explain to me why DEATH should ever be a choice?

I cannot understand.

I cannot stop crying…

I will not stop praying.

Merry Christmas to All…

This morning, in the town where I was born, three homes were burned to ashes. Four men were shot trying to save them. Two of those men died. So did the one with the gun.

First Newton. Now this. My own hometown. On the eve of Love’s birthday.

How many more? How many before our world comes crashing to its knees and can no longer ask the questions, no longer bear the pain?

There is a prayer, or rather a series of prayers in the Catholic faith called the Liturgy of the Hours. It is the prayer every priest is commanded to pray daily and many others choose to join them. The morning prayers are known as “compline,” and in it there is a canticle, a song, from the Gospel of Luke, a father proclaiming the coming of a reckoning to his son…

Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Israel;
He has come to His people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
Born of the house of His servant David.

Through His holy prophets He promised of old
That He would save us from our enemies,
From the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
And to remember His holy Covenant.

This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham:
To set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship Him without fear,
Holy and righteous in His sight
All the days of our life.

You, My child shall be called
The prophet of the Most High,
For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our Lord
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
And the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.

This is my prayer tonight. It is called the Benedictus, the Blessing. Whatever your creed or lack thereof, on this night of all nights, I ask that you open your heart to Love and follow the path of Peace.

Whatever your creed, this is what I wish you: Love. Peace. Hope. This is Christmas: Love. Peace. Hope.

So politically uncorrect as it may be, I wish a Merry Christmas to you all—Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic, Buddhist, Spiritualist, Wiccan, Atheist…

A BLESSED Christmas to all…

…and to all a good night.