January 20-26, 2008 Issue |
Posted 1/15/08 at 2:20 PM
It may sound incongruous to say, but I believe that I found
my faith at an abortion center.
Perhaps “rediscovered” is a more appropriate word.
I had been a lukewarm Catholic, attending Sunday Mass
(mostly), ignoring the sacrament of reconciliation, questioning some of the
teachings of the Holy Father. Then, the pro-life movement grabbed hold of my
soul, and my spiritual life hasn’t been the same since.
The interesting thing is that, based on conversations I have
had with other pro-lifers, I know the spiritual reawakening I had as a result
of my pro-life work is not unusual.
Susan Karlovich of York, Pa., has been a stalwart pro-life
activist for 25 years.
Despite some serious disabilities — she is blind and uses a
wheelchair to get around — she is an energetic and engaging pro-lifer, writing
letters to the editor and regularly calling local radio talk shows and C-SPAN
about critical pro-life issues. Susan has found that the pro-life cause has
drawn her closer to Christ.
“When speaking the truth about abortion, insidious attacks
and persecutions often occur,” Karlovich told me recently. “I have not only
been able to share in the sufferings of Christ, but, like him, when I see the
fruit that comes forth, I am satisfied because the more I die to self, the more
I can impart his life to others.”
Delores Euker of Hershey, Pa., began sidewalk counseling
outside a busy Harrisburg abortion center in 1988.
“I felt like I was there for Christ. … It was as if the
Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit got together and got me there. It felt like
Calvary every time I went,” Delores said.
Delores quickly found that there were numerous people
involved in the pro-life movement — particularly young people — whose
spirituality she wished to emulate. She was especially impressed with an
aspiring doctor who gave up a year of medical training to devote himself to the
pro-life cause.
She also discovered that a number of the pro-life activists
she met were “very spiritual people, very giving people, very loving people,
very active Catholics.”
Many of them were people who went to daily Mass and who
served the Church through lay movements such as Cursillo and the Legion of Mary
or who volunteered as lectors and extraordinary ministers of Communion in their
parishes.
And it came as little surprise to Delores that the priest
who began Rosary processions to the local abortion center — Father Kevin
Rhoades — eventually rose to become bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in
2004.
As I began my own journey in the pro-life movement, I seemed
also to be embarking on a parallel journey of faith. I became drawn to the
writings of Pope John Paul II, and I gradually understood the wisdom of his
words.
I returned to the sacrament of reconciliation with a renewed
fervor and began praying a daily Rosary — often with the intention that
abortion would end.
In fact, I first learned the Divine Mercy Chaplet from a
caring and patient sidewalk counselor who prayed the chaplet in the alley
behind an abortion center. Pope John Paul II, in fact, encouraged the
recitation of the chaplet to combat the culture of death around the world.
In the past few years, I have discovered Rosary meditations
that utilize pro-life themes and Stations of the Cross prayer cards that show
Christ’s solidarity with the suffering of unborn children.
Meditating on the passion of Christ seems to lead naturally
to reflections on the death of children in the womb.
The Missionaries of the Gospel of Life Lay Associates,
founded by Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, gives voice to the call,
based in faith, to protect the lives of unborn children.
The spirituality of the Missionaries recognizes a Biblical
basis for pro-life work and the fact that the pro-life movement is ecumenical
in nature, bringing together people of various religious denominations as
perhaps no other citizen-driven movement has.
In fact, the organization I work for, the Pennsylvania
Pro-Life Federation, boasts members of all religious faiths.
As Susan Karlovich notes, our love for God and our pro-life
dedication enable us to transcend denominational barriers and pray together in
power and unity.
Meanwhile, for Delores Euker, the movement “opened her eyes
to loving — loving someone we can’t see.”
And isn’t that what faith is all about?
Maria Vitale is education director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life
Federation,
an affiliate of National Right to Life.
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