Spring Break
Villanovans for Life
Villanova holds its second annual Respect for Life Dinner
Shauna Segadelli
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Features
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The event also featured speaker Karen Patota, founder of A Baby's Breath, which is a pregnancy crisis center in Bryn Mawr. Cardinal Rigali and Ms. Patota both stressed the dangerous weight of the abortion matter and encouraged students to carry on the uphill battle for life.
According to VFL President Clare Oven, Cardinal Rigali "has been a strong voice speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves." The Cardinal returned her compliment by citing Villanova as an example of the recent movement for Christian love by young people, which is "part of the new civilization of love, peace… and life."
The cardinal served in Rome under three successive popes for thirty years, working for Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. In his personal history with the issue of abortion, Rigali said that he used to read women's letters to the Pope in their last attempts for post-abortive peace, as they asked desperately for assurance of God's forgiveness. It is also rumored that Cardinal Rigali was the last person to see Pope John Paul I alive.
As much as he works endlessly in the battle for life, the Cardinal has infinite hope for a resolution to the current problem. He is heartened by the "power of the Pascal Mystery, [which] is the power of life." In the words of Rigali, the victory of life is inevitable because Jesus Christ has already won life for us through his Resurrection. "We know the end of the story… life will be victorious."
Karen Patota introduced her mission by quoting St. Theresa of Avila: "All is nothing but for God." Patota explained that she was inspired to act on her pro-life convictions upon the birth of her first son, which she described as a visible experience of God's love. She was also deeply touched by the pain of a friend who had an abortion, and decided to focus her program at A Baby's Breath around the mother's bond with her baby.
Patota described the "emotional attachment to the life that's growing inside [the mother]" as the most vital part of a pregnant woman's struggle when she contemplates abortion. She sympathizes with these women immensely, however, and understands how difficult motherhood can seem when the woman does not have a job, a house, money, or most significantly, a faith in life. Patota said that for most of the women that she deals with, "a committed relationship is a foreign concept," so it seems impossible for them to support a child single-handedly. Still, A Baby's Breath is founded upon the principle that a woman's decision to carry her pregnancy to term is of the utmost importance, because post-abortive women are broken by the worst kind of pain imaginable.
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S. Zerkowski
posted 10/10/09 @ 2:04 PM EST
While I think the following words are lovely to hear, they speak a mixed message: "you have to stick to your faith, and then God will bless you."
In fact, is it not more true that BECAUSE God has blessed us and BECAUSE of our faith we serve the cause of life and message of the Gospel?
Gospel stewardship tells us that we respond to God's generosity already lavishly given to us; we don't act with the hope that we'll be rewarded of our actions. (Continued…)
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