I didn't tell you guys about the Big Kerfuffle last year around this time, when my pastor told the leaders of the parish Sanctity of Life committee that nobody could be in parish leadership who wasn't willing to acknowledge the authority of the pope. This resulted, apparently, in a pretty tense meeting and the departure of two long-time committee stalwarts. He told the committee that they were expected to take a broader view of life issues going forward, and he asked me if I would be willing to get more involved.
This has been a bit of a struggle for me. I'm pretty sure I didn't tell you about the Respect Life month blow-up last year. I had written a blog post about climate change as a sanctity-of-life issue, and the pastor put it in the bulletin. I asked my family to edit THE HECK out of that post before I put it up on the parish website, but I did not foresee the intensity of the reaction: many, many angry emails about the folly of putting liberal claptrap in the parish bulletin. The pastor was entirely supportive and unruffled, but DANG I found it stressful.
The people on the committee are lovely, generous people. It's just that they like the way they've been doing things, with the Life Chain and the October fundraiser for Birthright and the Five Non-Negotiables voting guides from the days before Fr. Pavone jumped the entire shark. They're not so interested in a parish campaign to urge our congressman to oppose legislation that makes it easier for corporations to dump chemicals in local waterways. That doesn't feel like protecting gestating babies to them, even though gestating babies are the ones most likely to be harmed by that piece of legislation.
Today is the national day of remembrance for the unborn, and I went over to the Catholic cemetery in the rain for a prayer service. I was getting dressed in a hurry and pulled a random T-shirt* out of the drawer. "Maybe that's not a great shirt to wear to this particular meeting," I said to myself, but I put it on anyway. It's the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, and Our Lady is the patroness of the unborn, and most importantly I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WORRY about wearing a shirt with LITERAL SCRIPTURE QUOTES to a PRAYER MEETING full of CATHOLICS.
"Jamie," said one of the participants after the prayer service was over, "what does your shirt say?"
"It's the Magnificat!" I said, with cheerful voice and sinking heart.
They read it aloud: cast down the mighty, send the rich away, fill the hungry, lift the lowly.
"Oh," said someone. "Well, let's not send all of the rich away."
*It's a great T-shirt: soft and durable. If you decide to buy your own Magnificat T-shirt, be advised that they run small. I ordered two sizes up and the fit is just right.
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