Ever since getting involved in pro-life work, I have been focused on advocating for the innocent and helpless unborn child. Whenever I am reminded that “Pro-Life” encompasses the entire spectrum of human life, from birth until death, I dutifully nod while saying to myself, “Sure…but the babies are the most important.”
Babies are cute and sweet…and old people generally are not.
Well, I guess the Lord thought it was time to teach me a lesson, because I am now learning the hard way that yes…ALL human life is sacred, even those lives that are not as “cute” as others. You see, my 87 year old father has needed round the clock care since coming home from a lengthy hospital stay this past February, and he is now living in my home, on hospice. Always a kind and gentle man, the dementia can sometimes make him a little less easy to get along with. I must admit that there are times, (usually when he is keeping me awake in the middle of the night), when I am tempted to hang it up and let him go into a nursing home. But then I remember the fear and helplessness in his eyes when he had to spend five nights in a facility after leaving the hospital. It was pitiful to see him there. My heart just won’t let me do it. After a particularly difficult day this past Sunday, I was feeling especially discouraged. But on Monday, as I was cleaning him, he looked up at me and said, “Nikki, I don’t know what I would do without you.” An arrow right to my heart!
My Dad and me in 1966. He adopted me when I was just a few months old.
It really is a spectrum; life. We start out so helpless…and many of us end the same way. It falls to those of us who are strong, to take care of the weak. They depend on us. Last night, as I was reading from a book on “Patience”, written by St. Alphonsus Liguori…something he wrote really struck me. He said (I am paraphrasing): “If we refuse to accept the cross that the Lord offers us, we won’t get out of carrying our cross…instead, we will receive one that is much heavier and harder to bear.” I believe that St. Alphonsus’ words are true. I know in my heart that if I hadn’t accepted the cross of pro-life work that God gave me 15 years ago…there are many blessings that I would have missed out on. Without going into details, believe me when I tell you that I KNOW my life would have been a real mess if I had refused that cross.
All this to say; if we are able to care for and advocate for helpless, vulnerable human lives…(especially those who live in our neighborhoods)…and we don’t do it, God help us!
As we head into the fall season, there are many ways in which we can advocate for vulnerable lives. 40 Days for Life is one of the best ways we can do this! Anyone who can stand (or sit, or kneel) and pray on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood for an hour or two can make a difference and possibly save a life from abortion! The campaign kicks off with a Mass & Eucharistic Procession to PP on Tuesday, September 23rd and the forty days go from September 24th through November 2nd. And remember, when we are advocating for His precious babies, God looks at us with love. He doesn’t see our wrinkles or our crankiness…He simply sees the adorable children that we are.