MARRIED TO THE BODY OF CHRIST

PART ONE

MARRIED TO THE BODY OF CHRIST

Stephen McCutchan

Part one

David Benedict, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran church, felt student energy as he entered the hall at the University of Pittsburgh. He had been asked by the Newman Society to share in a forum about abortion with someone from St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Brother Matthew greeted him, “Great that you can be here.” He looked around. “Sister Abigail should be here soon.” He smiled, “She seems to always run a little late. I think you will really like her. A first rate mind.”

“Matthew, I don’t want to offend anyone. With the Sister here, how open should I be?

Matthew lowered his head slightly and looked at David with bemused eyes. “Believe me, Sister Abigail can give as well as she can get. Not all these students are Catholic. I expect you to be completely honest with your opinions. It should be lively.”

He looked past David’s shoulder. “Oh, here she comes now.” He moved past David to greet an attractive young woman mounting the steps. With the exception of her veil, she was dressed in a business suit. Quite nicely dressed, David observed.

“David, may I introduce you to Sister Abigail. She is in charge of young adult education at St. Paul’s Cathedral.”

David reached out his hand in greeting. “Pleased to meet…uh..you.” As their hands touched, David was uncomfortably aware that he was looking into a pair of beautiful gray eyes. He noticed that what started as a friendly smile on her face froze for just an instant and they both withdrew their hands. Brother Matthew was busy pulling out chairs for both of them and did not notice their discomfort.

Matthew introduced them to the crowd that had assumed their seats and then turned. “Sister Abigail, we will begin with you explaining the Catholic position on abortion.

David watched her as she confidently articulated her belief in the absolute sacredness of life that began at conception and should not be interrupted for any reason.

Then Matthew turned to David.

“The first issue is when the soul enters that organism and it becomes a human life. Judaism held that the fetus became human, or had a soul, at birth when it was able to breathe on its own. Early Christianity debated whether that happened 40 or 90 days after conception. For most of church history, the position was, as Sister suggests, that it began at conception.”

“The prophet Jeremiah says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” Abigail said. “That would suggest our humanity began even before conception.”

“That suggests that it begins prior to intercourse and needs to be protected from that first moment of passion,” David said.

There was a hoot from the audience.

David, who had been looking at Abigail, glared at the audience. “There should be no hooting and cheering in this conversation. I may disagree with the Sister on some points, but she is articulating a well-established position and should be treated with respect.”

After about an hour, Matthew concluded the forum. As David shoved back his chair, Abigail approached him. “Even though we disagree, I appreciate your support. It’s a complex issue.”

Again David was most aware of the gray eyes observing him. He watched as she thanked Matthew for the evening and then turned and left the auditorium.

For the next couple of weeks, as David focused on the various challenges of ministry, he found his thoughts interrupted by the image of those gray eyes looking at him. Then, one day as he was walking by a Starbucks near the university, he glanced in the window and spotted Sister Abigail reading a book and sipping her coffee. While he couldn’t see her eyes, the rest was very familiar. What the heck, it’s just being friendly. He entered the shop, ordered a cafe latte, and approached her. She looked up. He saw awareness dawn on her face.

“Hi, Sister,” he said, “We met at the forum with Brother Matthew a couple of weeks ago. Mind if I sit down?”

He noticed her face redden just slightly but she quickly covered herself, smiled, and indicated a chair with her hand.

“As long as we are not debating about abortion, I’d enjoy some conversation.”

“Actually I have another proposition,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow and looked directly at him with those disturbing gray eyes. “Proposition?”

He regretted his choice of words but plunged ahead. “Sorry, I should have said invitation. My church’s adult class on Sunday is studying what it means to be called by God. Would you be willing to come and speak to us about your sense of call to be a nun?”

“Sure,” she said. There didn’t seem to be any hesitation in her voice.

“Well, there is one other piece to the invitation,” he said. He felt nervous and didn’t even know why he was pursuing this but decided to trust his instincts. “I was thinking about a week from Sunday. The class is at 9:30 in the morning. We have a worship service at 11 and if you have time, I thought we might have lunch after the service.”

He watched her face carefully and saw a slight twitch and widening of her eyes. Then, as if she had processed several thoughts instantly and come to a conclusion, she responded with a disarming smile. “I think that would be fun, David. I’ll have to check with the Cathedral, but I don’t think that will be a problem.”

It was the first time she had called him by his name. It felt nice.

To be continued in the next blog, but in the meantime think of this as a parable.