The fight goes on - "Where there is life, there is hope"

On this past Wednesday evening, I had the priviledge of meeting with the Schindler family (Terri Schiavo's parents and siblings) and Fr. Frank Pavone, of Priests for Life, at the Franciscan Brothers of Peace friary here in St. Paul.

Our guests are in town for the national Right to Life convention, held in Bloomington MN this year -- I was not able to go to the convention itself, but it was a great honor to be able to spend some time with Bob & Mary Schindler, and with Fr. Pavone. The Franciscan brothers (the "FBPs" as we like to call them around here!) were gracious hosts, inviting around 25 or so individuals to join them at the friary for a simple dinner and gathering in the cloister courtyard.

I had forgotten, but it was almost exactly a year ago when the FBPs first got involved in Terri's case, God rest her soul. At last year's Right to Life convention, a couple of the brothers met Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother and the race was on to Flordia. Since that day, the FBPs have stood at the Schindlers' side, praying and hoping for Terri to be returned to her parents, and now praying and hoping that the other Terri Schiavos of the world will be spared. It was beautiful to see everyone together, if sad. It was also the day the autopsy results were released, and so the siblings had to leave to be interviewed live on Hannity & Colmes (I never did see that clip, but I am sure that they did just fine).

I had to leave the evening a bit early, to head back over to Theology on Tap ("already in progress"), but was able to bring a ton of stuff with me, some great wristlets and bumper stickers, purple with "Where there is life, there is hope" emblazoned upon them -- a quote from Terri herself, said a couple of years before her injury, referring to the case she saw on TV of a woman on life support who was the subject of a controversy over when to remove life support. Ironic, huh?

If anyone wants a free bumper sticker or wristlet, contact me, I have quite a few that I am willing to send out.