In the Name of Christ the King (Not ML King)

Currently, there is an email letter making the rounds on the Net, written by a Mr. Mark Pickup. In his email, Mr. Pickup describes himself as a disabled man, and he writes in the hopes of rousing Americans nationwide to defend Terri Schindler-Schiavo. Keeping It Catholic has received copies of this same email letter, forwarded by Catholics who spend many hours for many good causes.

Mr. Pickup's letter serves its purpose...and yet, something very important has been overlooked by my fellow Catholics - perhaps because in their urgency, they had not thought of it when the email was forwarded to KIC's attention. And so I will say what MUST be said - in defense of a Very Special Person, and as a gentle reminder to other Catholics who may receive the very same letter in their email boxes.

While "Mr. Pickup" is right on target about the right to life irregardless of "disabilities," as well as the need to stand up and help others who cannot defend themselves, Martin Luther King is his obvious theme from his first paragraph. Mr. Pickup's banner is raised in such a way that might make one think it was Mr. King who was the penultimate defender of those who need defending - the sick, the poor, the lame, the blind, the unprotected, the oppressed, the hunted, those who have none to pray for them, and those who have none to love them. One might even get the (wrong) impression that anything done in defense of those treated unjustly is done in the name of the same ML King.

But it was not Martin Luther King who first said, "Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me." It is not ML King Who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life..."

In other words, instead of asking, "What does Our Lord expect of us?" or even "What would Jesus Christ do?" (which, by the way, was a line first penned by a Catholic priest decades ago - and I have the proof!), we are instead asked, "What would Martin Luther King do?"

Catholics know there is only one KING who is the perpetual defender of the innocent - Christ the King. When we pray, study or act, we do so in HIS NAME.

We cannot "do" what Jesus would probably do - walk into Terri's hospital room and command, "Arise, daughter, and walk." But we CAN fast and pray for that particular intention!

Let us pray and ask Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to stay the hands of those who would harm Terri while pretending to do her a "good" by taking her life. Let us ask for this grace (not only preserve to her life but also to give guardianship to her parents and/or siblings if her husband's heart remains hardened) through His Virgin Mother, Mary, the Mediatrix of All Graces. Let us do so, not because what is happening to Terri might someday happen to us - as Mr. Pickup pleads - but because defending Terri is the RIGHT THING TO DO.

And, if we really believe in and hope for miracles, let us pray that Terri is completely cured from her disability and that her memory, (if it is not now intact) is completely restored so that SHE can tell the world - and the courts - what REALLY happened to her the fateful day she was found unconscious in her own home.

It is with prayerful supplications only "to Jesus through Mary" that Keeping It Catholic shares Mr. Pickup's sentiments, "GOOD PEOPLE OF AMERICA! DEFEND TERRI SCHIAVO!" to which KIC humbly adds:

"IN THE NAME OF CHRIST THE KING!"