Last Saturday, July 25th, just before ten a.m., on a warm and sunny day, Linda, Mary Burnie and myself met Mary Wagner as she walked free after nearly eight months incarcerated in the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, Ontario. Her sentence was:four months for mischief and four months for probation violations; a virtually unheard of sentence, when the standard for the latter is usually 30 days). Her exit from the prison was exactly as she wanted it: discrete, quiet, private, without media or any fuss.
Later in the day, a Mass was celebrated in "Thanksgiving for Linda Gibbons and Mary Wagner" at the Church of the Precious Blood in Scarborough, Ontario. After the Mass, a potluck was served.
Mary is well and happy to be free and with friends. But she wishes to remind us to keep the focus on the unborn, those endangered by the culture of death, such as the elderly and disabled. Mary would also like us to keep in mind the women who remain incarcerated in Vanier.
Prayer for Life by Pope John Paul II
Look down, O Mother upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in Your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment