Pro-life is pro-being

Service as an integral part of the movement in defense of life

The fiftieth anniversary is usually a moment of celebration. In the United States, where institutions are relatively short-lived—especially when compared to much longer-lived institutions elsewhere in the world—50 years is almost a measure of longevity. January 22 this year marked the 50th anniversary of the ruling in Roe v. Wade.

On the one hand, this anniversary does not mark longevity. One can rejoice in the fact that on this 50th anniversary, the Supreme Court ruling in favor of abortion, overturned last June, is no longer valid. On the other hand, it must also be acknowledged that the pro-life movement has suffered major setbacks at the state level in the last six months; in fact, the abortion movement has won even above neutral expectations.

In the November elections, every pro-abortion measure failed, while every pro-abortion measure succeeded. The legacy of Roe v. Wade still hangs over the country.

It was with painful joy that I found myself marching for life in Dallas on the Saturday before class started, protesting an atrocity that is no longer legal in Texas. Of course it hurt because the political action had gone so far; abortions continue to claim lives by the hour. But there was also joy in this, because, despite the ongoing horror, political failures and momentary disappointments, there was a feeling of uncompromisingness, absolute devotion to the cause for life.

This commitment has been held in the hearts of many people for so long, but now that the focus of the last fifty years – the decision in Roe v. Wade – has fallen, this commitment has been able to come out boldly and wholeheartedly. More than ever before, the pro-life movement will be able to express itself in all its all-encompassing creativity.

The commitment was shown especially beautifully on the first Saturday of this semester when Crusaders for Life joined the monthly day of service at In My Shoes, a shelter for pregnant homeless mothers. For the University of Dallas Life Defense Club, every Saturday morning was devoted to prayers and silent protests in front of the Dallas abortion clinic, which is now closed. Now we clean the house.

This transition is good not only because it indicates a real decrease in legal killings in our country, but also because through such service the movement for life shows itself as fundamentally pro-existence. And that’s what it really means to be: to be in the home, to be in the community, to be a parent. Pulling weeds may not be the paradigmatic action of the pro-life movement, but in its own way it is gracious, it is a beneficent witness to the beauty of being.

Before the March for Life in Dallas, the Bishop celebrates Mass at the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have rarely visited the church for other masses, so perhaps I naturally associate the architecture of this place with the pro-life movement, but the building seems to speak in a special way to the current moment of the pro-life movement.

The cathedral was originally dedicated to the Sacred Heart and remnants of this former dedication survive. A statue of Christ stands over the entrance and Christ bares his heart to Margaret Maria Alacoq in a large and centrally located stained glass window. But over time, the church was re-consecrated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and it appears under the master’s stained-glass window, depicted more simply, located closer to the ground.

The abortion movement had a great triumph at the Feast of the Sacred Heart last year, on the day Rowe was overthrown. After so many years of waiting, Christ laid bare his fiery, thorny heart to the world, and those in the movement for life will never forget this display of love.

But perhaps it is time to approach the earth, to take a closer look at the image of a pregnant woman, a woman who keeps within herself the mystery of God’s human nature. Looking at this image, so humanly simple, the life movement will surely find endless possibilities, whether big or small, to simply be a pro-existence, to perform ordinary, routine actions with integrity of vision and fullness of love.

Thus the movement will no longer be a movement, but will bring about a complete change in a country that has been devastated by death for too long.