8 Days and counting!

Just a few days ago, I moved into a home with three other twenty-something women. Come September, besides myself, the house will empty only to become a Catholic women’s household (complete with prayer support and fellowship). For the summer, however, the demographics of the household though not random (nothing is random) are diverse… and not Catholic.

When I was first asked what I did for living, I felt the conversation ramping up to the “what do you do” question. I am not pleased with how I responded, but since it was the first day meeting all of them, I wanted to keep the conversation going instead of uttering a ‘show-stopper’. Maybe I am building it up to be more than it is, but hauling out the words “ I work for an NGO that is working towards making abortion illegal” doesn’t seem to go over well. Not only this. But I am learning something important in my old age, something requiring poise and discipline and lots of love – something called tact. Call me a sell-out.

As I sit here and reflect on how I could have gone about things differently, my old foe (legalism) is piping up but it is being soothed with the knowledge that if I am faithful to my convictions, they will come to know me and to know it all in a natural, contextual way instead of having me spew out the coarse version in the first few minutes. So I am resting a bit easier. Discernment must be pinnacle if we are to be pro-life. So is sincerity.

Next week, I am making my way to the National March for Life in Ottawa where I will be helping out with the logistics to ensure that the whole event runs smoothly. Like any other event where the attendance climbs towards 10, 000 people, it is difficult to maintain an ‘atmosphere’ throughout the March. Be that as it may, we are trying and I think it to be important that we do so.

This year is a particularly somber year as it marks 40 years of abortion on demand in our country. This represents a massive decline in our population due to the fact that many of our contemporaries never did get to see the light of day (on earth). The young people particularly, are a generation of survivors. For this reason, I think that the mood of the March should reflect this fact, though it seems irresistible that the high schoolers yell confrontational and sometimes condemnatory “pro-life” cheers. I urge all of you who may be reading this to reflect sincerely on the reason for your attendance. The sheer volume of people who will clog downtown Ottawa’s streets on May 14th will speak for itself. In flinging out cheers at passersby, we are alienating if not infuriating those who do not share our convictions and this is not the way to provoke conversion let alone reflection.

Today, I urge you to begin preparing for May 14th by praying for those who will attend the March. Let's make this a pivotal moment in Canadian history. See you in 8 days!