Priest for Life talk in Rochester

After giving a talk at St. Theodore's Church last night, Father Denis Wilde of Priests for Life corrected me.

Out loud so everyone could hear.

While chatting with him and a few of the other people there, being a polite sort (call people what they want to be called), I referred to the other side as "pro-choice."

Ulp.

He loudly asked for everyone's attention and said never refer to them as "pro-choice".

They are "pro-abortion".

Thank you, sir. May I have another?

(I'm kidding, of course. He had a point - though I'm still inclined to the gentle, more polite approach so as not to alienate - and I was not embarrassed.)

In his talk, the man did not mince words as well. But he also offered hope. And some music (he was a music teacher, after all).

He noted that the proper attitude following the election of Barack Obama is not despair.

"This election like every election is God's will," he said.

"It's not God's will to have evil conquer," he explained. But we have to keep in mind "We don't know everything."

And so we don't know what God will do with this.

He referred to the story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, impregnating her, and then had Uriah killed and took her as his wife. The son Bathsheba bore David became ill.

David, his eyes opened to his sins by Nathan, lay on the ground in sackcloth for seven days, refusing to eat. When the child died after his seven days of penance, David rose, cleaned himself, and ate.

When asked about this, David said "While the child was living, I fasted and wept, thinking, `Perhaps the Lord will grant me the child's life.' But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

And then he comforted Bathsheba, and she bore a second child - Solomon.

In the same way, Father Wilde said, we may have fight and fasted and prayed for McCain's victory (or Obama's defeat), but now that is over. There is nothing we can do about the election, so we need to move on trusting that just as God brought good out of David's sin - the birth of Solomon - God will bring good out of this defeat.

But we have to act, and not simply bemoan what has happened.

"I can't do anything about it," he said, "but I can do a lot after."

So it's time to renew our efforts to fight for life.

It won't be easy, he admitted. Things might get rough. There may be persecution of pro-lifers. But that can help - as has been the case of the Church.

"Where there is persecution, we are strong."

He noted that during the pro-abortion (I'm learning) Clinton days, the pro-life movement grew. Under the even more pro-abortion President Obama, the movement will grow even more, he predicted - if we do the work.

"It's not about Obama. It's about us."

"This is a time for growth," he observed. "We need to reassess not whether we can do it, but how."

He noted that this is also a time for prayer. He advised people to go on retreats and days of reflection to gear up for the fight ahead.

"The most important thing right now is to be reinforced by God's love."

Father Wilde and others will be at Planned Parenthood this morning to pray, then he will be preaching at the Masses at St. Stanislaus this weekend to help inspire the pro-lifers here in Rochester.

I will be at a day of recollection with the Secular Franciscans today, and will be in the choir at St. Theodore's tomorrow, so this was my only chance to see him. But I feel inspired.

I just have to remember: Pro-abortion. ... Maybe.