Newborn left in manger a positive sign of a culture of life, says Cardinal Dolan

Jan 26, 2016

WASHINGTON D.C: Cardinal Timothy Dolan reflected on the true story of a woman who left her baby in a church crib, during his homily at the National Prayer Vigil for Life, last week.

Calling it “a sad but gripping tale” in his homily during the opening Mass on Thursday of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Cardinal Dolan, said: “No one knew where the baby had come from, or who left him there … until, a week later, the sobbing mother, a young Mexican woman, remaining anonymous, told her story to a journalist.”

Cardinal Dolan, who is chairman of the American bishops’ pro-life committee, recounted the mother’s words, noting the irony that the woman had left her baby at Holy Child Jesus Church: “I was so afraid, and, all alone in the house, suddenly went into labour. I must have been in excruciating pain for at least two hours. I started pushing because, each time I did, the pain would let up. I pushed for 15 minutes and finally the baby, a boy, finally came out. He didn’t cry at first, so I was afraid he was not all right. I didn’t know what to do, so I left the umbilical cord on. I wrapped him in a clean towel and started to look for some place safe and warm.

According to the cardinal, the woman continued: “I’m very religious so right away I thought of my church, Holy Child Jesus (in the Brooklyn Diocese). I go there a lot, and the priests and people are so good. I just knew if I left him in God’s hands, my baby would be OK. So, I ran into my church and put him in the empty crib. Then he started crying. I just hoped he was warm enough. I hid in the back of church, knowing Father would find my baby and the people would care for him. They did.”

“True story,” Cardinal Dolan said, “and I submit it to you, the jury, this evening, as Exhibit A in our case for promoting the culture of life.”

He added, “It’s not far-fetched to imagine another scenario, what might have happened: that mother’s legitimate and understandable apprehension and isolation could have led her to Planned Parenthood.

“She could have been going to a parish which she found cold, unwelcoming and, impersonal, where she did not feel safe, and where she would not have been inclined to turn in her crisis,” Cardinal Dolan said. “Or, in those fretful minutes after her baby’s birth, she might have run to a church only to find it bolted-up, with a sign on the outside telling her, probably in English, to come back during office hours. Thank God that scenario remains only a ‘might-have-been.'”

He said later: “We are summoned to be such agents of conversion.” The way to do that, Cardinal Dolan said, was “by imitating those priests and people of Holy Child Jesus Parish in New York City, by acknowledging that Jose, that abandoned newborn baby (named for St Joseph, Jesus’ foster father), Jose was nowhere more at home than in the empty manger of their parish nativity scene, because he, too, is a child of God.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, in introductory remarks, welcomed “the many, many, many young people” at the Mass, as they serve as “a reminder for every generation” that all are “called to show respect for the gospel of life.”

The prospect of a major storm carrying heavy snow and high winds made the national shrine slightly less impossibly crowded.

Compared to the 11,000 who were packed in for the opening mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life last year, only 9,000 were on hand according to Jacquelyn Hayes, a shrine spokeswoman.

Clergy turnout was similarly smaller for the Mass. Unlike the entrance processions in recent years, which lasted a half-hour,the procession on January 21sr took 20 minutes.

One indication of a reduced turnout for the vigil was an announcement on Tuesday by the Archdiocese of St Louis’ Catholic Youth Apostolate that as a precaution, it was canceling its annual Generation Life bus caravan that would have sent hundreds of youths to Washington.--Catholic Herald