I was waiting at a bus stop a couple of nights ago, here in DC. Underfoot, I’m crunching a mix of salt and black ice. I can see my breath. I’ve got on four coats; basically what I bring to DC for this event is: a rain coat, a winter coat, a light jacket and a toothbrush. That pretty much covers what you need for the time here. And I’m waiting at this bus stop, impatiently, wondering, “Why couldn’t Roe V. Wade happen in May!?”
January 2012, March for Life, Washington DC
[homily given January 2012, Washington DC, at the ‘Jesuit Schools for Life’ Mass at Gonzaga High School chapel, on the morning of the annual March for Life, as chaplain for Boston College student group]
All those cherry blossoms would be glowing! We could try to organize a “pro-life night” at a baseball game here in town. You could wear your pro-life t-shirt… instead of having it buried under a parka, and a hoodie, and maybe a sleeping bag. But then, maybe January is the perfect time to be here. We’re here for no other reason than to witness to life. Why would you come to Washington DC in January except for this event?
my niece, in her 2nd trimester. she is now in grade school
You might think of the black ice, the parkas as a kind of merit badge. We could have a merit badge for 9+ hours on a bus (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-28). A merit badge for sleeping on a gym floor for more than 2 nights. Also, when the guy next to you is snoring and you don’t get any sleep for those 2 nights. But not just a merit badge, with a boy scout style sash—more than that.
We are sharing in the mission of Christ. We walk with Christ. We’re called [Is 49:1] by Christ to be here, through our Jesuit schools, through the mission of the Church. We’re called to be here with Christ. With Him, to stand up for the unborn. To stand out in defense of pregnant women—especially those who are young, afraid, poor, who feel all alone. We are with them in the cold—in the freezing sleet we might see later today.
This is the heart of our Jesuit mission, the mission of our schools. How can we serve the poor if we abort them before they are born into this world? How can we stand up for the rights of those on the margins of society, for immigrants, how can we serve them if they are not alive? If the weakest among them are not allowed to breathe the fresh air of our free land?
We’re here with joy. I love how the Jesuit school fight songs get retro-fitted for this event: “Hey blue, hey white, hey team, pro-life!” You see the Franciscans with their shaggy beards bouncing around outside, the Jesuit schools singing their fight songs, the Jesuits with their trimmed beards in the style of St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier.
This is a matter of life and death (Deut 30:15). This is the premier social justice, human rights issue of our time. And we are right in the heart of it today, here, now, thanks be to God. We are in the middle of things and we are here with great joy. Christ’s mission was one of life and death—the salvation of the human race (John 3:16-17), nothing less. Christ did not live a sort of dreary life, dragging his feet, quaking under the burden of his labors. Yes, he suffered, yes he carried his cross, but Christ’s mission is one of great joy.
See him in the Gospel drawing these little children to himself (Matt 18:1-5): five-year-olds, two-year-olds, six-month-olds. Holding them in his arms; talking to his friends, talking to us about the beauty and goodness of human life (John 10:10). That’s why he came! That’s why we are here to walk with him. To stand up for those who don’t have a voice. To show these young women they are not alone. We love these young women and their babies. It’s ridiculous to separate them. If you love one, you love the other; that’s why we’re here.
We’re blessed today to have with us some of the Sisters of Life. They are in the middle of things in a way I can only marvel at. They resurrect the dead. That’s what they do. Women considering abortion see a sister, or perhaps call one through their hotline and find a word of hope, a word of warmth and encouragement. Women who have been through an abortion can find the Sisters of Life, and can come back to life. Women who feel that they have destroyed everything that is important to them, that there is no hope for them anymore—they find out that’s not true. Our God is one who saves (John 3:17), one who forgives, one who raised the dead back to life (John 11:44). Then He turns them into apostles of life, so that other women don’t make the same choice they did.
Brothers and sisters, we are in the heart of things. Yes, it is cold, but we are warm with Christ. As we pack together, march together, singing our fight songs together for life-- we stay warm together because we are with the Lord today. We are here in joy; yes, it is a time of sorrow, yes a time of injustice, but we are here with hope, brothers and sisters. We are here because we love the Lord, he loves us, and we want to share that love with others-- drawing them into His hope and justice.
I am honored and proud to be a Jesuit on this day in particular. I’m proud to be with you. I’m proud to be with many of my Jesuit brothers who were able to make it here today. We’re blessed by the Sisters of Life, by some of the Dominican Sisters who were able to make it today-- in their mission of teaching and spreading the faith.
We’re here for Life (John 10:10), however long it takes (cf. Phil 2:17). This is my 8th March. How many more is it going to take? Eight more? Twenty more? Whatever it takes, we’re here with the Lord. You might bring your children to this March a few years from now. Young man, there in the back: you might be sitting up here [in presider’s chair] a few years from now. Young woman from Boston College: you might be with the Sisters a few years from now, keeping your ears warm with that veil, a few years from now.
We are here for Life, however long it takes. We are with the Lord. We are here in faith and in hope, and we come here to this altar to be fed with the Lord’s own Body and Blood (Matt 26:26), keeping us warm, that we may spread his love to those we meet. Thanks be to God, brothers and sisters. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam