
Lately, I’ve been writing a journal with various thoughts on my job. I have many. Just as soon as I think I’ve heard it all, somebody calls the office and finds a new way to stump me. The journal, however, catalogs not only the learning process, but the interplay between people and priests and thoughts on the spiritual life. It’s the kind of journal I could never publish, at least not in my lifetime, as privacy is a central component of what I do. In order to publish, I would have to keep things vague and/or change names. I suppose that would be true of many jobs — a medical receptionist, for example, has an entire office filled with private information. My journal entries don’t often dwell on specific information, though. Just as often, I’m cataloging what we did to wing it for the Corpus Christi procession last Sunday, and how that turned out. In fact, I was going to adapt that journal entry into a blog post (I wrote it on the Monday after Corpus Christi), until Friday arrived. At that point, the stunning overturning of Roe V Wade took precedence in my mind and journal.
Catholics are celebrating, you see. They’ve been at the forefront of the prolife movement for years. These activists, who will leave prolife rallies with sad grimaces and “see you at next year’s rally” defeatist statements, are dazed and confused, wondering what just happened. But they are also in the thrall of excitement, the adrenalin flowing. At least, they were yesterday. Adrenalin will always wear off, but the general consensus is that what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday was a big win on the side of goodness and holiness, and it couldn’t have happened on a better day, when Catholics were celebrating the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart is a special yearly devotion, particularly dwelling on Jesus’ love for mankind. It’s this heart that compels Catholics to fight against the scourge of abortion, which is in opposition to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Abortion is antilife and anti-humanity. It’s evil at its finest and darkest — destructive to those whom Jesus died for before they’ve had a chance to perceive the sunlight, except perhaps what little penetration occurs through skin, muscle, and fluid.
A few weeks ago, a parishioner brought me a history of a local nun who is now in her nineties. She asked if it could be posted on a bulletin board, and if I could format it and make it look nice. I did format it, and I could understand why this parishioner wanted the story told. The nun had lived a life of service, including working for years in a home that helped teen girls. But what was particularly fascinating to me was her history of prolife rallies that had landed her in jail multiple times. Overturning Roe V Wade is what women like this Sister have been fighting for all these years.
I know this post could merit some cynical responses, particularly from conservatives. I’ve already heard those, seen those. Yes, I realize that overturning Roe V Wade didn’t outlaw abortion nationwide. We still have a war in front of us, both politically and culturally. And yet, this is still a win. Conservatives are loath to acknowledge any win in a larger battle. They come up with reason after reason why overturning Roe V Wade was not a good decision — I think conservatives must be the real Eeyores amongst us. This is part of why I haven’t called myself a conservative in a very long time. Their attitude is simply rotten. If they can’t acknowledge the goodness in overturning Roe V Wade, perhaps they could acknowledge that a Supreme Court justice decision that overruled all state laws is at the very least unconstitutional. Roe V Wade should never have had the overarching affect that it did. Getting rid of it will help restore state rights, at the very least.
It does something more, though. It rips open that outer layer of demonic possession of our nation. Yes, that sounds a bit extreme. As someone who believes in the spirit world, I don’t know what else to call the slaughter of babies. We had a veil over our nation that didn’t allow individual regions to stop this bloodbath from occurring. Every time a state or county or city tried, it was challenged at the Supreme Court level and held up to the supposed sacrosanct Roe V Wade. Now we can have sanctuaries for the unborn, in states like Texas. Of course, there will be backlash. Of course, the evil entities of the world will find a way to turn this decision to their destructive ends. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right decision to make. It just means there will be more work to do.