Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated with dates. Just ask my family. I’m the go-to person for the birthdates of relations near and distant. Since becoming a Catholic, this natural interest has developed into a love of the liturgical year. Whenever something significant happens, I look up the date to see if there might be a hidden eternal significance. I like to tell myself that because God sanctified created time by his Incarnation, so he can use created time to teach.
So, naturally, as we mourn today for Terri Schiavo, I wondered about the significance of the date of her death (March 31). No particular saint’s day leaped to mind, but comments in the blogosphere reminded me that many in the Church are currently observing the novena of Divine Mercy in preparation for the Feast of Divine Mercy this Sunday. Inspired, I looked up the novena to find out which souls are being prayed for today in the novena:
"The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus’ mercy."
Later, I had a bit more time to poke around to see if March 31 had any special significance. Ordinarily, the date falls during Lent, so I was unsure I could find a particular commemoration for a saint. But, with a bit of digging, I found that the day has been set aside (at least in some areas) in honor of St. Benjamin — yes, the same Benjamin born to Jacob and Rachel. Rachel originally named him Benoni, meaning "son of my sorrow," but after her death Jacob changed the name to Benjamin, which can mean "son of my right hand."
Benjamin’s mother Rachel is often invoked by pro-lifers because of this passage from Jeremiah:
"Thus says the LORD: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not’" (Jer. 31:15).
Today is a day of mourning because Terri Schiavo is no longer with us. But just as Benjamin passed from being a "son of my sorrow" to a "son of my right hand," so we have Christian hope that Terri, who suffered much, is now a child at God’s right hand. As for us, even in sorrow, we too should cling to hope:
"My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’" (Lam. 3:20-24).
I hate to be the party-pooper, but I don’t think it’s fair to go on and instantaneously canonize Terri Schiavo, as so many of us have been doing.
INSENSITIVE COMMENTS DELETED.
What happened to Ms. Schiavo was tragic, on a number of levels. Let’s not overstep our bounds, however, and start making rediculous off-the-wall analogies and auto-canonizations.
Eric, please note that I said “we have Christian hope that Terri … is now a child at God’s right hand.” No “auto-canonization” there.