April 15, 2005

Praying at the abortion clinic is one of the apostolates of the friars and sisters. When it was one of my weekly apostolates, I remember a man named “Bob”. He was what we call in our jargon a “deathscourt”. He diligently came most Saturday mornings and steered women away from us and told them not to listen to what we were saying. He was conniving, relentless, and sounded very good. He frustrated our work there many times. After trying to talk to him a number of times, I realized that I was not there for him, and I needed to focus on why I was there. So, although we prayed for his conversion, I ignored him and by doing so found the best way to deal with him.

I cannot believe what I have been hearing for the past few days. It had seemed as though Our Holy Father had left his greatest single evangelical effort until after his death; but our bi-polar news media has as of late showed its lesser side - after showing what they could be. There is much talk about women priests on CNN, the gay agenda in the New York Times, and other voices who are taking the spotlights that are still trained on St. Peter’s square for good or ill. To the credit of the media, some good things still seem to be coming out, but we knew this would come: the treating of the papal election as a presidential election. What I find surprising is that so many good people are getting caught up in it all.

Why do we let the media spin affect us so much? Why do so many good people let it steal their peace? We should not deny that there are issues in the Church, and that many people hold heterodox views that are serious matters (indeed grave matters in case they did not know), but when we get caught up in the dust-devil that is the media spin, we play right into their hands. The most we can do is in the chapel in prayer. That is our role now and that is the best way to silence those who would shape the Church after their own designs.

Br. Agostino Miguel Torres, CFR
St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, New York

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