St. Gertrude Catholic Parish

Dear St. Gertrude,

Did I tell you what the books will be for this year’s book club? We started off last Monday with Beowolf. Can you believe 15 grown people reading about a hero fighting a monster, an underwater marathon battle and a dragon, written over a thousand years ago in Old English but newly translated by Seamus Heaney? And enjoying it immensely? Well, we did. The upcoming books look very promising:

Feb. 9: The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. DuBois
Mar. 8: Annie Dunne - Sebastian Barry
April 12: The Second coming - Walker Percy
May 10: Disgrace - J.M. Coltzee
June 14: Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress - Dai Sijie
July 12: Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
Aug. 9: The Awakening - Kate Chopin
Sept. 13: Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Oct. 11: A People Adrift - Peter Steinfels
Nov. 8: The DaVinci code - Dan Brown
Dec. 13: In the Garden of the North American Martyrs - Tobias Wolff

All are welcome anytime. It is always on the second Monday of the month and begins at 7:30 pm in the rectory. We had a wonderful surprise. A former parishioner, Francis McCracken, (who died two years ago) included St. Gertrude in his will. The parish will receive $99,617.36. This generosity to the parish shows an affection in which the parish is held. It also brings out how blessed we are by the kindness of those who have gone before us. Let us pray for Francis McCracken and all those who have made our parish the object of their generous support.

I have been struggling with a problem for the last couple of weeks. January is the month that the Church has chosen to have a pro-life theme. The gospel, of course, is pro-life, but the term has taken a very specific meaning in this country. It has become the catchphrase, which describes the politically active who have raised their voices against those who are called pro-choice. Each side in this controversy has taken a hard line using tactics which have become well-known. Pro-life means not only that abortion is a personal tragedy, but also that the act of abortion should be made illegal.

My problem in all this seems rather small. In January it is quite common to see pictures and text about the issue of abortion. There is a major effort to bring this subject up because January is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade decision, which made abortion legal. I know there are many women who have had abortions, a million every year. Some of these women come to our church to ask God for forgiveness. Their experience is raw, sad, and traumatic. Some find the January offensive very disturbing. Some find the Church no longer a place of sanctuary. So I’m trying to decide what kind of picture to put into next week’s bulletin. Like I say, this seems to be such a small problem compared to what is involved. But it is my problem and I would like to hear from parishioners about this dilemma.

WK