The Last Thing I Have to Say to My Dear and Beloved Pro-Life Club

Here is the speech I wrote for the Pro-Life Club Ring Ceremony yesterday. I mean every word - it was so difficult to read. I was getting choke up but I was surprised I didn't cry. I usually don't get emotional about "ends" of things, but Pro-Life Club means the UNIVERSE to me and I can't imagine never being in it again...with my greatest friends.

Today we gather as more than a pro-life club – we gather as a family. I think just the simple act of showing up for an event that has remained a mystery to you for months is a great testament to the dedication we have to each other and to our call to love and defend life. We are a family – we are baptized into the Body of Christ and we each have a purpose so vital and so precise that we cannot be removed. Our lives are intimately woven together, like a “seamless garment” of the One Body of Christ of which we are a part, and today we hope to weave ourselves permanently to each other and to the call to respect and defend life.

Since October, the officers, Gail [ ], Tammy [ ], Justina [ ] and I, our moderator Ms [S], Fr Dairo who has so graciously agreed to be with us today, and the member whose idea this was in the first place, Meghan [Chippy!!], have worked so very hard to bring this Ring Ceremony to you. Each of you will receive a gold ring with the image of the tiny feet of an unborn 10-week old child, the national symbol of the pro-life movement. My hope to each of you is that you wear this ring with pride and with reverence. Be strong and be brave to your call. Do not allow any influence to weaken your resolve. You are doing the right thing. But please also look at these tiny feet with respect for each person God made. Never forget those whom we have lost to the culture of death – may their spirits go with you as you continue to forever defend life. Also may you see these feet and see the path God has chosen for you. These are in every way Christ’s feet and I ask you out of the love I have for my family here to pray to Him to show you just how to follow Him.

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” These words are from the first chapter of the Letter of James in the New Testament. I can’t hand over to any of you a crown – the ring will have to do! But I tell you that this world may not hand you over a crown either. You will be persecuted. You will be derided, ignored, perjured. You will be told you are wrong and you will not receive the respect that you proclaim is due every individual. But each of you who is sitting here today is a leader. Stand tall and stand brave. You may fail, but if get up every time you fall, you are doing the right thing. God is with you. I can’t prove that but I believe it and I hope you do too.

Believe you are doing the right thing. Believe that life is sacred. Believe that each individual has a precise and beautiful purpose. Teach yourself the truth – learn as much as you can about how wonderfully made you are and you will see how much you must defend each person’s life. “Love in action and in Truth.” Do not condone any evil, but love the trespasser. That is what it means to be pro-life. Do not give up on anyone. Have faith and have it firmly. Be passionate, even in times of doubt.

The best example I can give you is our own Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She has cradled us even before the womb. She is the essence of faith. She said “yes” to God Who asked her to carry His Son, but how? What did she have to tell her she was doing the right thing? Up to her time, there was no Savior named Jesus – no concrete salvation. There was prophecy and the Word of God. There, of course, was faith. She is a human being. God asked her to rise up when she was around our age. It was her one “yes” that brought our Christ into the world. This was one faith. Just one.

Do you wonder as you watch my face,
If a wiser one should have had my place,
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan.
Help me be strong.
Breath of Heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Hold me together.

(At this point, I was thinking to myself, "Diada, hold us together please.")

I have nothing else to say here because each voice must carry Christ’s message individually. Therefore, as my own parting words, I would like to read part of the farewell speech of the club’s last president, Christina [ ].

"I encourage you to be pro-life in every way possible. The unborn, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped are no less beautiful in the eyes of God and therefore shouldn't be in our eyes either. Treat everyone as a child of God. I urge you to see the glory of God in even the people who anger you or hate you. But most importantly, share the good news that we should love our neightbors no matter who they are. Even if people mock you, laugh at you, or put you down, be passionately pro-life and never jeopardize the dignity of another person."

Amen.