Tuesday is Veterans Day. Some of us can still remember the silence that accompanied the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month each November. We’d stand by our desks for one-minute of silent prayer to commemorate the Armistice that ended The Great War, which turned out to be World War I, since a bigger war, World War II, followed by the time we got to High School.
A Silent Minute of Prayer
We’ve been through several wars since then so Armistice Day has morphed into Veterans Day and Remembrance Day, but some of us will still stop for a minute of prayer for the doughboys of World War I on November 11 and then include a prayer for all the people who died fighting the good fight everywhere, and who died for a better world. God knows who they are.
So at eleven o’clock on November 11 staff and volunteers of the Pro-Life Action League will be in St. Joseph’s Chapel for a minute of silent prayer for those who are trying to help save the world.
A “Reunion” in LaCross
Our weekend trip to LaCross, Wisconsin, held at the beautiful Diocesan Center, turned out to be a kind of reunion. We were invited by Mary Turner of Life Voice but one of the first people we saw was a former member of our staff, Katrina Schnable, now Sr. Marie of Mater Redemptoris Convent. Sister went straight from our office to the convent.
I ran into Peter and Wendy Krump, who marched with us in Chicago on many occasions. Once when we picketed Justice Harry Blackmun, author of the abortion decisions, at the Drake Hotel, Peter played the drum so vigorously that he got arrested. There was Notre Dame classmate Gerry Heberlein, and Mary Mc Cord Royal from St. Mary’s College across the Dixie Highway.
Fr. Sam Martin opening the event with Mass and a powerful sermon on being consumed by zeal for God’s law. There was a healthy turnout, and more sisters and priests than we are accustomed to have attend our talks.
Life Voice is dedicated to telling the truth about contraception, the cause of so much chaos in the world today and the root of the abortion culture and the culture of death. My daughter, Annie, had spoken in La Cross in September, and made quite an impression on the young people. It is flattering to be asked, “Are you Annie Scheidler’s dad?”
“Pro-Life” Debate Continues in Tribune
Six letters in Monday’s Chicago Tribune are on abortion, and the accompanying cartoon is of two faces with balloons saying , “Pro-Choice,” ” Pro-Life,” “Abortion is Legal,” “Abortion is murder,” “Right to Life,” “Right to Choose,” ” Family Planning,” “Family Service,” “Can we find common ground?”
Michael Dorr liked the Don Wycliff column supporting pro-life’s wish to be called “pro-life,” but Leona Roen wants us to be called “pro-birth” because we only want people to get born but forget about them once they’re outside. Carol Hillman just wants us all to support abortion, and Frank Krause is highly critical of pro-life for wanting everyone to choose life, while Chrissie Pluth is upset that there weren’t any women in the photo of President Bush signing of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban (an oversight), and Catherine Caporusso also noticed the absence of women at the signing.
Don’t Miss Picket Saturday
Join us this Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Albany Abortion Mill from 9 to 11 a.m. for an old-time picket with signs, marching, chanting, and a leaflet of the neighborhood. Don’t miss it. That’s at Cicero and Elston.
