“When St. Francis of Assisi
was asked what a person had to do to lead a good life, his reply was:
‘Preach the Gospel. Sometimes, use words.’ Father Robert Drinan
preached the Gospel sometimes from the pulpit, sometimes from the House
floor, sometimes from his Georgetown University classroom. But he
always preached the Gospel through his example.
“Father Drinan lived and
legislated according to an expansive view of the Gospel, believing that
it had something to teach us about the whole range of public policy –
from war and peace, to poverty and justice, to how we treat our
children and our parents. It was because of his faith that he was one
of our greatest champions for human rights. 
I am particularly honored
that earlier this month, Father Drinan celebrated a Mass at my alma
mater, Trinity College, before I was sworn in as Speaker. He said that
Mass in honor of the children of Darfur and Katrina, praying there that
‘the needs of every child are the needs of Jesus Christ himself.’
“He challenged us by
saying, ‘Imagine what the world would think of the United States if the
health and welfare of children everywhere became the top objective of
America’s foreign policy! It could happen – and it could happen soon –
if enough people cared.’
“He continued, ‘Let us
reexamine our convictions, our commitments, and our courage. Our
convictions and our commitments are clear and certain to us. But do we
have the courage to carry them out? God has great hopes for what this
nation will do in the near future. We are here to ask for the courage
to carry out God’s hopes and aspirations.’
“As he led us in prayer that day, Father Drinan said, ‘We learn
things in prayer that we otherwise would never know.’ Today we pray for
the courage of Father Drinan.
He said, ‘As I look out at
all of you with your new and expensive law school educations, I would
urge you to go forth into society not as mere legal tradesman, but as
moral architects. Design, create and build a better and more equitable
society and use your skills to help those who are otherwise not being
served.’
A fitting tribute to the moral architect, Fr. Drinan
What will be his words to God the Father be? He will be charged with being the purveyor of the death of the innocent that was made in the Fathers "image and likeness".
Posted by: Tom Hamill | February 08, 2007 at 08:15 AM
I think I will just pray for Fr. Drinan along with the lost souls. We don't want to see anyone go to hell, but sometimes we cannot avoid it. I wo't judge his salvation but I can surely make a judgement on his life here. There is no question of his stance on Life, and it was not God's stance.
Pray for the soul of Fr. Drinan.
Posted by: John Cronin | February 12, 2007 at 04:39 PM
John,
You do more than pray. You stand in front of abortion clinics to let everyone know what is being done that is wrong.
Do you do that to humiliate the doctor inside?
Posted by: carol | February 12, 2007 at 05:00 PM