Mary Wagner: "I am most supported when I learn that others are living their faith with zeal and authenticity..."

Mary with children in Poland 
Photo: courtesy Jacek Kotula

[Originally written on January 22nd, 2015, and translated into Polish for Nasz Dziennik, I present to our readers the original text which Mary graciously and kindly has asked to be published exclusively at Toronto Catholic Witness.]

As I wrote to Jacek Kotula (who is fighting the good fight for Life in your country [Poland], I want to thank the many Polish people who have prayed for me and for my country. It was a great blessing to have visited Poland and it have met so many faith filled people who are striving to live the Gospel of Life. Thanks also for all the letters from Poland (certainly, since my last arrest, more mail is coming from Poland than from any other country). In some of the letters people tell me that they are also fighting for the Gospel of Life and this is good to hear. 

What I would like to say to Poles it that our greatest strength – our only strength – comes from God and that He is our strength, and He is our “only ideal” as Mother Teresa said: “our only ideal is Christ”. We seek to love our unborn brothers and sisters because this is what Christ has commanded us, and we accept hardship and suffering (with his grace) which is nothing compared to the suffering babies undergo when they are killed – because Jesus suffered and died for us and because “a servant is no greater than his master”. If I were a saint, I would be so happy to suffer anything, because it is precious and powerful when offered to Jesus.

A truck removing babies like garbage,
while Linda Gibbons witnesses on the sidewalk

I never have thought that the fight for the life of the unborn is not worth the suffering of being in prison. Each child is an incredible, unique human being, unrepeatable, from the moment of conception; the child is made in God's image and likeness, and Jesus tells us, "whatsoever you do (or fail to do) for the least of my brothers you do (or fail to do) for me" (Mt. 25:40). Besides, my suffering is so little compared to the babies, who are treated like garbage, never to see the light of day or grow to know and love God as he intended.

I would like to say that there has been a lot of support for me personally and for this particular path – from various people from all over the world. In particular Cardinal Oswald Gracias, when he spent a few days in Canada in 2013, took time to visit Vanier CW and say the first Mass ever said in this jail. I met Cardinal Gracias in 2012 and he has kept me in his prayers. Fr. Peter West of H.L.I. Said the second Mass at Vanier, in 2014, while on pilgrimage with the icon (replica) of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

Why Linda and Mary do what they do 

The recent demonstrations at Canadian embassies in Berlin, Warsaw and Moscow (and I have heard they are planned at other sites also ) are a beautiful and strong sign of our united struggle on behalf of God's littlest ones. Thank-you so much! I would like to take this chance to say that we must appeal to the government to give justice to the unborn, first and foremost. It is very kind to seek my liberty, but if I am free, with God's grace, I will return to try to protect the babies and as long as the law does not protect them, I can expect to be arrested again for “interfering” with the abortion business.

The gift of faith is really our greatest treasure, and being faithful to Christ is the most important thing in life, So, coming back to the question of support, I must say that I am most supported when I learn that others are living their faith with zeal and authenticity and are discovering pro-life work more deeply in the light of our relationship with God and with the Church. We support each other in the deepest sense when we are truly seeking to love, to live the Life we are called to live through faith in Christ. This means a life of adoration, of acknowledging God as the One to whom we owe our complete adoration. 

As I learned from the late Fr. Marie Dominique Phillipe O.P., all the injustices of the world, (of which abortion is one), stem from the primary injustice: God is not adored. If we want to build the culture of Life, the civilization of Love, we will not succeed is we do not put God first, "seek first the Kingdom of God and all these other things will be given to you".  

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