Connecting the Dots for LifeI used to fly into Houston on business in the 1980s, but never drove Interstate 45 north of downtown. Today, the Sunday before Thanksgiving 2008, not driving Interstate 45 north of Houston seems like a good idea that I should have stuck with. There are no shoulders to nestle the six lanes of traffic per side; only intermittent accident investigation pods. And everybody is driving like they do in Texas. Just as I start feeling nostalgic for the slow, purposeful pace of life in my rural north Florida, a huge white monolith looms in the distance. Texas Revolutionary War hero Sam Houston’s seven-story icon welcomes me to Huntsville, home of the infamous Texas death house called the Walls unit. Walls has hosted almost 40 percent of all the executions in the U.S. since the modern American death penalty experiment began in 1976. About one mile from the death house is the Planned Parenthood office that snares young women in difficulty and directs them to places that will kill the innocent life in their womb. These two pivotal cogs in the Texas machinery of death are the reason that I am in Huntsville the Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving. The Texas Catholic Conference is welcoming me in the hope that Florida will someday host an event of this kind. By 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, the Huntsville parish church of St. Thomas the Apostle is filled to overflowing. The parish hall is overflowing. The two tents erected outside are overflowing. The Mass being celebrated by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston-Galveston is the opening of the “Texas Pilgrimage for Life.” Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth and Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Antonio concelebrate along with more than a dozen priests. Eighteen deacons are present and vested. Based upon filled seats, the number in attendance is between 550 and 600. Texas Catholics have shown up in force; attendance is beyond expectations. Cardinal DiNardo punctuates his welcome, homily and closing with a summary of the reason for this Texas-centric Catholic event. No banners. No slogans. No placards or protest signs. No confrontations with passersby. This is not a political demonstration. This is a pilgrimage of prayer – intercessory prayer. This is a visible and tangible witness to the God-given dignity of the human person from conception to natural death, an intense experience of prayer and reconciliation for all those who strive to promote a culture of life. After Mass, buses take us to the gathering area across the street from the Planned Parenthood office. Cardinal DiNardo recites the opening prayer and leads us in the rosary for life. Sam Houston University lies between the two factories of death. Our route takes us from Planned Parenthood, around the border of the campus and to the Texas death house. About 450 to 500 Catholics are in the procession. Cardinal and bishops. Priests and deacons. Nuns and religious brothers. A Byzantine rite priest with his family. High school students. Knights of Columbus. Legion of Mary. Respect life. Eucharistic Adoration Society. Pax Christi. Twenty-something and 30-something parents with toddlers. Grandparents with adult children and teens. African-Americans. Asians. Native Americans. Caucasians. Hispanics. The assembly is a microcosm of our pilgrim church. As we approach the infamous Walls unit, the closing Hail Mary and Hail Holy Queen are prayed. Officers look down from their turrets while Marian hymns echo between the aged redbrick walls. Several guards cross themselves and bow their heads. Finally, standing across the road from the brick sign “Huntsville Unit – Texas State Penitentiary – 1848,” Cardinal DiNardo prays his closing blessing. My eyes are moist. My voice is thick with emotion. This is my church, standing as a unity amidst diversity, against the culture of death. No bickering about politics or personal agendas. Today we all stand shoulder to shoulder, supporting and praying with each other for victory on every front in the war that is being waged against the value and dignity of human life. Recinella is the coordinator of Death Row Ministries, St. Mary’s Church, Macclenny.
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