Obey God or Man? Canadian Pro-lifers Choose God

Canada's Shame: Pro-lifers get Prison while Canadians are Killed Seconds Before Birth

by Susan Fox

(Editor's Note: Mary Wagner was released from prison on July 25, 2015, after serving 7 months as a "prisoner of conscience" in the Vanier Centre for Women outside Toronto. Fellow Canadian prisoner of conscience Linda Gibbons went back to prison Sept. 2, 2015 after holding a sign outside an abortion clinic.) 

Pro-life Defender Mary Wagner in Poland
in better times.
She was imprisoned Christmas Eve in Canada

Poor St. Peter, he healed a lame beggar, and that’s when his troubles began.

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)

And then the man “jumped” to his feet, and began to walk.

So Peter and John were hauled off to jail for an act of kindness.

When they were released, the elders of Jerusalem admonished them to stop teaching or preaching in the name of Jesus. But who should they obey? God or man?

“Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20) 

Answer: Obey God.

So it is with Canadian Pro-Life Witness Mary Wagner imprisoned on Christmas Eve in a Maximum Security Prison in Milton, outside Toronto, for interrupting the “lawful enjoyment” of the business of an abortion clinic. We have  here special businesses that “enjoy” the murder of children, an act that many in the world call a crime against humanity.

In Canada, a child can be killed up to seconds before natural birth without any penalty. About 100,000 unborn Canadians are killed every year through surgical abortion out of a population of 33 million. It is estimated that four million have died in 45 years in a country in which all “persons” are guaranteed the right to life.

Welcome to the Civilization of Death.

Ironically, Mary Wagner did not try to interfere with the business of the abortion clinic: the doctors/nurses performing abortions, the bookkeepers keeping records, and the secretaries answering the phones.

But she did enter the clinic to influence mothers whose “choice” has been enshrined in secular society as a “human right.” Apparently that “human right” is only sacred if they intend to abort their child. Clearly, they are not allowed to change their minds.

Most of those women aren’t there because of choice anyway. They will tell you their parents, their boyfriends, their statutory rapist or their fears of career/financial insecurity is forcing them to have the abortion.

What is Mary’s crime deserving of a maximum-security prison cell on Christmas Eve, 2014? She politely entered the Bloor West Women's Clinic in Toronto two days before Christmas, handed out roses, cards and requested the mothers let their children live, offering real assistance in an attempt to remove their fear.

For similar acts Aug. 12, 2012, Mary Wagner was jailed and spent almost 2 years in prison. An abortion clinic worker testified in Mary’s 2013 trial that she caught her kneeling at the feet of a patient and offering her a rose. Oh my. That would frighten me too! As the ridiculous Queen of Hearts in Wonderland yelled, “Off with her head!”

Canada’s consciences have been lulled to sleep in the recent decades because of a law that says if you are caught and convicted three times trying to influence decisions of women in or near an abortion clinic, you go to jail for increasingly longer terms per each offense. “People have a sense of being defeated by this,” Wagner said in a Polish television interview.

Even pro-lifers standing on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic are arrested. “Canadians are used to the status quo,” Wagner said. “The sense of defeatism and apathy (on the subject of abortion) is widespread in the country.”

Canadian pro-life witness
Linda Gibbons
The poster reads:
 "Why Mom? When I have
so much love to give."

I have witnessed many times outside an abortion clinic on a public sidewalk in the United States, and by Canada’s law I should be in prison for life. We witnessed the largest protest in the history of the pro-life movement on Aug. 22, 2015 in 354 locations worldwide with total participation  greater than 78,590 people. But for the same “crime,” Canadian Pro-Life Defender Linda Gibbons has spent 10 of the last 25 years in prison.

“We don’t go there to be arrested,” Gibbons said in an interview with “Beyond the Talk.” “We go there to be the last opportunity to rescue a child from being decapitated, dismembered and disemboweled.” And to the mothers, she offers real assistance and one last chance to change their minds.

Police arresting Linda Gibbons.
Do they feel foolish handcuffing
a peaceful little old lady?

The other critical gift she offers is fetal development information. Gibbons has met many grieving mothers after the abortion. They often explain they were entirely ignorant of fetal development. One woman told her she had asked the abortion doctor what a four-month-old unborn child was like, and she was told, “It is a blob of cells.”

Gibbons showed her the model of a child at that stage of development and the now-childless mother was heartsick. The unborn child looks like a tiny human being even at eight weeks from conception. I saw my son Raphael at that stage right after his miscarriage, whole and entire. I recognized my husband’s long legs and face. He was our son! Reality is different than what the words “blob of cells” conveys.

Linda Gibbons and Mary Wagner
The two are good friends, and support one another
in and out of prison. 

Both Gibbons’ and Wagner’s rights have been violated because Canadian law also guarantees an individual “freedom of expression, conscience and religion.” And the Criminal Code says you cannot go to jail for using reasonable means to prevent an assault upon another person. At the heart of the issue is the Canadian government’s stubborn refusal to recognize a “person” in the womb. In Mary’s trial, the judge refused to hear testimony even from a non-Christian embryologist. No doctors, no scientists were allowed inside the courtroom.  

 

While largely ignored by big media in U.S. and
Canada, Mary Wagner's arrest is headline news
in Poland, where they are organizing a protest on
Jan. 8 outside the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw

Mary Wagner is a hero in the predominantly Catholic country of Poland. “Although it seems unbelievable that in Canada someone was sentenced to prison for Catholic beliefs, it unfortunately happens,” one Polish newspaper opined. Poles have created a petition to the Canadian Prime Minister, rightfully declaring Canada’s continued incarceration of Mary Wagner to be a violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

 Article 19 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

“The Canadian government takes great pride in boasting of its "human rights" positions - well, why is there another standard for our Angel for Life, Mary Wagner?” Toronto Catholic Witness blogger Barona pointedly asked. He has created a new Twitter hashtag, #RosaryforMary, inviting all to pledge to pray the Rosary for Mary Wagner.

So pro-lifers in Canada may not even defend themselves in court by saying they are there to protect the life of the child. In Wagner’s lengthy court trial, she tried unsuccessfully to use this reasoning to defend her actions in the abortion clinic. Her ultimate goal is to get the Canadian government to abandon its stubborn refusal to recognize the personhood of an unborn child. One of her judges angrily told Mary, “If you think you have the right to tell other women what to do you are wrong and your God is wrong!”

Both the judge and Legal Aid Ontario refused funding for her defense beyond the most basic charges. Crown counsel argued that when Wagner said she was trying to protect the child, she was “manufacturing” a defense to act as a guise for her political beliefs. That’s like the pot calling the kettle black!

 

Polish Facebook Page honoring Mary Wagner

Mary’s journey into witnessing for the unborn child began in Denver in 1993 during World Youth Day. “Pope John Paul II spoke to my heart: ‘Do not be afraid!’” Mary said. Saint John Paul II’s thinking very profoundly affected Mary throughout her trials because repeatedly in interviews she acknowledges that the Pope asked Catholics to disobey unjust laws.

Pope Saint John Paul II deeply
influenced Mary Wagner at World
Youth Day in Denver in 1993

“Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection,” wrote the prophet John Paul II in the Gospel of Life.

The second event that led Mary into pro-life witnessing was a trip to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. At least 1.1 million people were killed in Auschwitz gassed with a pesticide, a very painful death. Ninety percent of them were Jews.

“That was a very profound experience for me to see a place where there was a complete disregard for a certain group of people,” Mary said. “And then I read the guest book – ‘May this never happen again!’ People had written that over and over again.”

“But I thought, ‘This is happening again.’” She said God was preparing her “for a greater commitment to give more of myself in the struggle to protect life.”

The third event that influenced her was a friend who was working in medical research and his conscience was troubled by what he was working on. She began to pray for this man, “and in that context, it was like God lifted the veil for me and I saw the reality of what happens in an abortion.”

She said she never wanted to see a film of an abortion because it’s disturbing, “but it was as though God was forcing me to see that reality.” And so He began to lead her to draw closer to where it was concretely happening – to the “times and places where our unborn brothers and sisters are being killed.”

Are you Christian? Pro-life? If you are living in the United States, you still enjoy unparalleled freedom to witness on the public sidewalk outside abortion clinics nationwide without fear of arrest. Perhaps the heroic witness of our Canadian pro-life brothers and sisters will inspire you to pray for and speak to people outside the clinics.

But in Canada many ordinary heroes are needed. “I would hope there are enough God-fearing people in Canada who are appalled that Parliament sees no limits on its own authority to pass whatever laws it wants,” said, Dr. Charles Lugosi, Mary Wagner’s counsel. 

 

Dr. Charles Lugosi, J.D.
Mary Wagner's Counsel

“Our Constitution talks about the supremacy of God … and the rule of law, which is based on natural justice … Parliaments cannot pass laws that include some human beings and exclude other human beings from the human family,” he added. “If it starts with the unborn, it will go to the disabled and elderly … This is the time to wake up, get aggressive and get active. Let’s see if people are prepared to sacrifice.”

Yes, it is as my mother warned in the 1960s, there is an ugly creature lurking in the human conscience. Once a man accepts the murder of the unborn, then he has prepared for his own murder. We had legalized abortion in my youth, and now, I and my generation are ripe for involuntary euthanasia in our old age.

In going to jail on Christmas Eve, Mary Wagner’s feet were firmly planted on the Rock of Jesus Christ. It was He, who invited Peter and John to make an act of civil disobedience to Jewish authorities -- authorities who unjustly demanded they stop speaking about Jesus Christ.

And what would have happened if they obeyed man, and not God?

This effort owes many thanks to Toronto Catholic Witness for their courageous reporting on Mary Wagner's arrest. 

Find out about the latest Planned Parenthood Protest on Aug. 22, 2015 here. Planned Parenthood Videos Spark Protest of Biblical Proportions

THE HOLY FAMILY: Model for all Human Families

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

Solemnity of the Holy Family, Dec. 28, 2014

Saints Peter & Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

       This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family. 

The fact that today’s celebration comes on the heels of Christmas is not a coincidence. No, today’s Solemnity of the Holy Family is a reminder of God’s will.  God Himself was born into a family to bring salvation to all mankind. So, for God, the family is the cradle for salvation. 

Joseph, Jesus and Mary are models of holy family life.  We can see in their lives how God designed the family for mankind.  

Let me focus on three points. 

Devotion to God

The first point of what constitutes a holy family is devotion to God. What does this mean? It doesn't mean family members are perfect. Even Jesus' family was not perfect. No, such a family puts God first. 

Family members learn and strive to follow God’s commandments. And parents are the first teachers of the faith to their children. As we hear in today’s first reading from Sirach 3:2-6,12-14, “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.”

Parents must teach children good moral values, and children need to learn godly values taught by their parents. 

Families need to read the Bible together. They need to learn how to understand what God says to us in Scripture. As the saying goes, “A family that prays together stays together.” 

Families are to inspire vocations to the Church. The Church needs holy priests and sisters. Holy vocations are given life in the family. We see this thorugh the example of the lives of many saints. When Saint Therese joined the Carmelite religious order at the early age of 15, she joined  two of her elder sisters in the convent, who had helped form her relationship with God.  Saint John Paul II was inspired to a life of holiness through the influence of his father, who he would often see on his knees praying. 

Devotion to Holy Matrimony

  

The second point of what constitutes a holy family is devotion to holy matrimony. God teaches us that marriage is sacred. God calls the husband and wife to give themselves fully to one another. 

The marriage act is a unity that is fully expressed in the conjugal act. During this act of love, the man unites with his wife so intimately that the two become one flesh. So a holy marriage inspires a holy family. 

God teaches us that the sacrament of marriage can only be celebrated between a man and a woman. God has made this teaching clear throughout the scriptures.  As Pope John Paul II states in this book, Covenant of Love, “Familial love is precisely the union of a man and a woman in total self-donation, which is physically expressed through their masculine and feminine bodies.” Saint John Paul II further says, “Since it is impossible for two men (or two women) to give themselves physically to one another, any attempted union between them ceases to be a gift. It becomes a using of each other, or, at least, a using of each others’ bodies.” 

Devotion to Sanctity of Life 

Tis the Season to be Pro-Life

The third point of what constitutes a holy family is devotion to holiness of life. Families are to respect life. God made each of us unique, wonderful and special.  Before we were conceived, God knew each one of us. So we are to respect one another as God’s children, those who are born and those who are unborn. 

Through the gift of life, we are to respect each other’s bodies, and we are to respect our own bodies. We are to learn how to control our passions and desires. Mary and Joseph are a good example of this. Although Mary and Joseph were betrothed, they did not have sexual relations. And when Mary became mysteriously pregnant, Joseph did not want to put her to shame. He respected her out of love. Nor did Joseph abandon Mary. No, he loved and cared for her! 

Devotion to sanctity of life means that we do not use birth control. We are to be open to the gift of life in God’s time, not our time. Sexual union expresses love in its fullest meaning, and this love must be kept sacred and special. It is not something to be tossed around or thrown out to the dogs.  No! Sexual union is a bond of communion in the life of the Trinity and is therefore open to new life. 

My brothers and sisters, today’s Solemnity of the Holy Family emphasizes the wonderful gift of the family! It emphasizes our need to strive to live as holy families. This is what our Church needs! This is what our society needs! This is what we need! Holy families! Why? Because we live in a time when the life of the family is under a severe attack. 

The family is the basis for everything that thrives in our human societies. Families are the backbone of the life of human civilization. Once the family goes, society goes.

As we celebrate today’s Solemnity of the Holy Family, let us praise God for the gift of the family. Let us pray for our families here at Saints Peter and Paul, and for all families that we will strive to be devoted to God, devoted to Holy Matrimony, and devoted to  the sanctity of life. 

Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, may each one of us grow in a deeper relationship with God who is the Father of all families. May God bless you and your families this day and always.

Wedding Feast at Cana: Mary to Jesus, "They have no wine."

Merry Christmas! Our Salvation is Born!

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2014

Saints Peter & Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

Merry Christmas! Today is the day our Salvation is born! 

In today’s Gospel passage (John 1:1-18), we hear the beautiful words  from the prologue to the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh. And made His dwelling among us…  The world did not know him…But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God…” 

My brothers and sisters, these words from our Lord emphasize God’s plan for each one of us! Since the very beginning God created each of us to be His children.  He created each of us in His image so that we can be His sacred, special persons. But we turned away through sin. 

Yet, our God does not give up on us!  He has continued to call us back to Himself. He has given us the commandments. He has given us the prophets. And finally, He has given us His Son, a small child, born in a manger. This small child would grow into a man. He would live with us! He would teach us! And He would prove to us the seriousness of our need to turn back to God by dying the most excruciating death—death on a cross!

Some of you know that I was raised Mormon.  I left the Mormon Church at the age of 12. Although I can remember having spent many wonderful Christmases with my Mormon family, it was not until I became Catholic several years later that I came to understand the full significance of Christmas—that Christmas is the celebration when the divine dwells with creation. You see, Mormons believe in Jesus, but they do not believe that He is divine.  They believe that Jesus is God’s Son, but they do not believe Jesus is God.

My brothers and sisters, if Jesus was not fully human and fully divine, then the whole meaning of Christmas loses its identify. The Catholic Church teaches that our Lord was born into our world so that each one of us can become a new creation. As we heard in tonight’s Gospel passage, God was made flesh, and to those who will accept Him, He will give “power to become children of God!”

Through His nativity Our Lord identifies with us in everything but sin. In order to save us from our sins, our Lord had to be conceived and born. He had to go through the whole process. Jesus got angry. Jesus got tempted. He felt what it was like to be sad. He felt what it was like to cry. He lived among us and died and rose again so that our disordered nature could be healed.  

 Today’s celebration therefore teaches us that God has a plan for each of our lives! No matter what we have done, no matter where we have been, God calls us to be one with Him. But if we want to live God’s plan for our lives we must humble ourselves. Our Lord humbled Himself by being born in a stable and dying on a cross. All He asks is for each of us to humble ourselves by repenting of our sins and by following His teachings and adhering to His commandments!

In just a matter of days our world will enter into the year 2015.   A lot has changed during the past 2000 years  since our Lord walked the earth. The most drastic changes have taken place during the last 100 years. On the outside we seem to be much better off than we were 2000 years ago. We have more stuff, and we can do a lot more things. Yet, on the inside we, the whole of humanity, seem to be more lost than ever. We have gained a lot intellectually and materially, but we are rapidly losing our spirit and joy. 

Throughout Advent the readings for Mass has focused on the second coming of our Lord. So our Church wants to remind us that our Lord is coming again, and He is coming soon. At our Lord’s first coming, which we celebrate today, our Lord came mostly unnoticed by the world around Him. He did not come into our world by riding on the clouds. He did not come with a bang. No. Our Lord came small and humble. And He died small and humble. But when our Lord comes again, it will not be the same. No! He will come riding on the clouds in great power and glory! The earth will shake. The heavens will tremble! And then He will send out His angels who will gather His elect, those who strive to live holy lives. Those who refuse to acknowledge their sinful ways, and refuse to ask for repentance, will be thrown into everlasting fire. 

Today we celebrate the day when our salvation was born! Yet this celebration is not a celebration only in words. It is celebration of action!  It is a celebration of change! Our Lord was born into our world to lead us into a life of holiness. He has come into our world so that we can live in His world. He wants us to live in His light. He wants us to live in His love. He wants us to live in His truth. As we celebrate Christmas, let us focus our hearts on what truly matters: Eternal Salvation. And let us rejoice because our savior has been born! Alleluia!