Virginia:
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Where did you grow up and where did you go to
school?
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Wayne:
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I grew up right here in Chicago where I
attended public school and graduated from Hirsch High on the
south side. I attended Columbia College and graduated with
a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a major in Writing
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Virginia: |
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What is/was your profession?
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Wayne:
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I became
a legally blind professional photographer along with
working different jobs in sales. I did a small amount
of writing for neighborhood newspapers. Getting work in
the 1960s and 70s was difficult for many people with
disabilities since the
Americans With Disabilities Act did not pass
into law until 1991 and many employers openly
discriminated against us.
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Wayne: |
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My wife,
Miriam and I have belonged to the parish only for about
a year and a half.
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Virginia:
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What drew you to the parish? |
Wayne:
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We decided to leave our previous parish
because it was no longer meeting either our spiritual,
mission or community needs. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is in
our neighborhood though not the closest parish
geographically and we understand that community is an
essential part of our spiritual life.
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Virginia:
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What
roles have you served at the parish?
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Wayne:
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As relative newcomers Miriam and I wanted to
learn more about the parish and how we fit in. There was no
method or mechanism for introducing new parishioners to the
various opportunities for participation in the parish so we
kept our eye on the weekly bulletin to learn more about what
was going on in parish life and devotions. We have tried to
attend many of the educational events and to join in the
prayer life of the community beyond limiting ourselves to
Holy Mass, which, of course, is the center of everything.
We attend holy hours and spend time with the Lord whenever
possible. Along with that we attend those events that
include the Rosary and growth in understanding of Church
teaching and a deeper understanding of the Bible.
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Virginia:
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Why did you get involved with the Parish
Transformation? |
Wayne
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At first it was not my intention to be a part
of the Transformation program because I was so new to the
parish and did not know enough about what was happening and
not happening in the parish. In addition, I had
participated in the Parish Transformation in my previous
parish and the pastor had abandoned the Transformation Plan
as soon as the facilitators were gone. Miriam and I had a
chance to sit down with Fr. Lee to learn more about the
parish and the direction of the community for the future.
He was kind enough to give us his time so that we could
understand where the parish was and at least some of what
his vision for the parish was. Fr. Lee asked me to
participate in the Transformation and I agreed with some
foreboding.
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Virginia; |
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What area did you focus on in the Parish
Transformation? |
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Wayne:
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My main
interest was to evaluate the mission of the parish, both
from within and through its outreach to the broader
community.
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Virginia: |
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How do you think the Parish Transformation
will help OLMC? |
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Wayne:
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It is
always good for all of us, as individuals, to step back and
take a look at how our lives are going. The same holds true
for a community. The Parish Transformation forced all of us
along with our pastor and other leaders of the parish to
take a close look at where we were and then to form concrete
goals that would correct weaknesses, strengthen existing
programs and formulate methods for expanding the scope of
our
faith
community. If the agreed
upon actions are acted on then the parish will grow as a
prayer and church community. There is always the danger of
allowing secular ideas and prejudices to subvert a community
that is intended to be centered in Jesus Christ. We are to
be a missionary, evangelical body and not a social service
agency. It is too early to tell where things will go but
there is movement and that is a good thing. Too many times
people confuse the fundamental purpose of Church and they
get sidetracked by a secular view. Most people admire
Bl. Mother Theresa of Calcutta but I wonder how many of
them have read her writings and know who she is? One key
that I have found to whether a mission or group is centered
in Christ is if they offer Holy Masses for those they serve,
pray the Rosary for and, when possible, with them,
participate in Holy Hours to pray for those they serve and
have times for prayer and fasting for them. If a group is
doing none of this then Christ is not at their center and
they do not make themselves partners with the Blessed Virgin
Mary and the Communion of Saints. They are
cheating those they claim to serve. |
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Virginia: |
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How did you get involved in fighting the
Illinois SB 1564? |
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Wayne:
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SB 1564 was brought to my attention through
an email notice from the
Catholic Conference of
Illinois, the arm of the Illinois bishops which seeks to
protect the Catholic Church in Illinois from discrimination,
immoral practices and attacks on our religious freedom. The
ICC sent out alert notices that the Illinois legislators
were seeking to force Catholics and other faith communities
to participate in actions that are intrinsically evil. |
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Virginia: |
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Why are you opposed to the legislation? |
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Wayne:
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SB 1564
is an intrinsically evil piece of legislation that attempts
to force Catholic doctors, nurses, counseling agencies and
crisis pregnancy centers to refer patients and clients to
places where they can obtain such ungodly “services” as
abortion, contraception and sterilization if those providers
cannot provide those deadly services because of their
religious beliefs. It constitutes a direct attack on our
religious freedom and, more than that, it seeks to force
medical and counseling personnel to violate their most
fundamental rights of conscience and to force them to give
material cooperation to intrinsically evil and sinful
actions. It is part of an ongoing attack against people of
faith both in Illinois and throughout this country. People
refuse to believe that the most basic freedoms afforded to
people under the U.S. Constitution and, more than that,
under the Commandments of God, are being methodically eroded
by elements of local and federal government who want the
Catholic Church removed from the public square and confined
to the walls of our church buildings. |
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Virginia: |
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What other legislative issues have you been
involved in? |
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Wayne:
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Most of
my work over the past 15 years has been directly related to
legislation concerning threats to innocent human life. This
ranges from local ordinances such as the “Bubble Zone”
prohibition against talking to or giving information to
women as they are going to an abortion clinic and, thus,
eliminating the mother’s opportunity to truly know what
choices she has and the possible consequences that their
choices may bring about. So-called “pro-choice” people hate
free choices and seek to keep a woman from knowing what
choices, resources and options she really has.
“Pro-choicers” hate choice and truth. They want dead
babies-it’s that simple. |
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Virginia: |
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We understand that you have been very active
in the Prolife movement for many years. Could you give us an
overview of your background in this movement? |
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Wayne:
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The
answer to this question and others really requires more
extensive time and space than the scope of this interview
allows for, but here it is in a nut-shell. I am a convert
to the Catholic Church and I was baptized into the Body of
Christ in 1996. I was raised as a Jew but abandoned the
faith in my early teens. The watered-down structure of
Reform Judaism made that departure much easier as it has
done so for many, many reform Jews. Sadly, I see many
Catholics going in the same direction. I moved into atheism
quickly and God, ceased to be even a relevant topic for me
except when I saw the hypocrisy and authority of any
religion as an obstacle to personal freedom and choice. I
was part of the social uprising of the 1960s and 70s and
abortion and other life issues were not high on my list. I
simply believed that an unwanted baby was better off not
being born. If you don’t believe that we are created by God
and destined to be in Heaven then killing becomes much
easier. I was an active exponent of recreational drugs and,
thank God, I did not get addicted to hard drugs. I thought
of sex eliminating
the mother’s opportunity to truly know what choices she has
and the possible consequences that their choices may bring
about. So-called “pro-choice” people hate free choices and
seek to keep a woman from knowing what choices, resources
and options she really has. “Pro-choicers” hate choice and
truth. They want dead babies-it’s that simple. |
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It was in
that mode that I lived my life and viewed the world and its
institutions. During this time I found every opportunity to
rebel and to fight for justice. In that spirit I began in
the “Ban the Bomb” movement during the nuclear threats of
the Cold War; moved into the Civil Rights movement and then
into the anti-Vietnam War movement. I campaigned, to a much
lesser degree, to promote abortion and its mother,
artificial contraception. Through a long-term series of
circumstances and events in my life, including slowly going
blind, my life fell into despair and I became suicidal as
most of my life and my relationships disintegrated. This
lead to a suicide attempt in 1992.
Out of that suicide attempt there followed a
process of psychological healing that was only partially
effective. Despair set in again and out of that despair
came a trip to a Catholic Church, St. Michael in Olde Town.
It was there that I encountered Jesus Christ and I learned
that he was real and I came to believe.
Once I
believed in Jesus Christ the next step was to join him and I
entered the
RCIA. Over time I learned that I, like each of us, was
a loved creation of God with great value despite my
disability and my failings. I learned that I had an eternal
soul and that I was destined for Heaven to live with God
forever if I chose to follow and obey him. If I rejected
him by rejecting his Church and its teachings I would cut
myself off from God forever, the worst possible choice. I
learned that God is love and he wills everyone to be saved.
God does not send us to hell, we send ourselves by making a
free choice to serve our own selfish needs and desires and
rejecting God’s Commandments. If anyone, even a priest,
ever tells you that nobody is in hell-run like hell away
from him or her!
One day I
was laying on my sofa at home and I was watching a Catholic
TV network, EWTN. There
was a priest who was showing a video of a late-term abortion
on a pre-born baby who was more than 6 months in her
mother’s womb. Because of my very poor vision I could not
see what was taking place but the priest,
Fr.
Frank Pavone, described in detail the horrific
dismembering of this little, living girl. She was being cut
to pieces while alive. By the end of that video, which
nearly caused me to vomit, I had been converted to want to
protect these helpless little babies. Later I learned,
first hand, that rather than these mothers having their
“problem” of being pregnant solved by the abortion, many of
them were scarred for life and many fell into depression,
suicide, addiction, promiscuity and an inability to maintain
deep relationships with a man. The abortionists and their
supporters had never told us that side of the story.
That is the process that brought me into the
pro-life, pro-child and pro-woman ministry. |
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Virginia:: |
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There seems to be less activism on the part
of some Catholics on Prolife issues in the past decade. Do
you have any observation why that may be? |
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Wayne:
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I think that it has been going on for much
longer than a decade. Many people grew up in the same
period of rebellion and self-will that I did. This secular
view of the world poisoned many minds and hearts and
infected so many with the idea that they needed to decide
for themselves. Along with that Vatican II came out it
seemed to give even many bishops and priests a license to
reject the teachings of the Catholic Church and the
fundamental moral values that are the foundation of a
Christ-centered society. Between seminarians that were
being formed by very bad and untrue theology and the lack of
solid catechesis for the laity people lost track of who they
were as children of God in his Church, the Catholic Church.
Without that strong rock of Catholic teaching many have
become their own false gospel and have become self-centered
and no longer Christ-centered. You cannot be Catholic and
pro-choice. It is that simple. Vatican II was not at all
intended for that, quite the opposite, but something went
terribly wrong and I cannot give you an answer as to why?
I recommend
that every Catholic read the encyclical,Humanae
Vitae written by Pope Paul VI. It is a prophetic
document that shows how artificial contraception would lead
to pornography, adultery, divorce and sexual perversion.
His prophecy, tragically, has come true. We have very few
priests today who are willing to call sin, sin and speak
about the 4 Last Things. In short, the lack of genuine
horror of abortion is the result of a diabolic destruction
of Catholic moral teaching and a lack of respect for human
life, except for your own, that is. The secular press,
distorted teaching in schools (including Catholic schools at
all levels) and a new, deadly Trinitarian view; Me-Myself
and I.
This nation is filled with the walking
wounded and the walking dead, in my view, the lack of
faithful and courageous priests and bishops bares much of
that responsibility. Most Catholics no longer go to Church
and among those who do, the majority have decided that; “I
think...” and “I believe...” is more important than; “Jesus
Christ says...” and “My Church teaches...” Try asking
people what they believe about abortion and contraception
and see how many of them site scripture or the Catechism of
the Catholic Church. Our beautiful Catholic Church is in
grave danger from both the secular world, including the
government and the press and, sadly, from within from
counterfeit Catholics who follow their own false gospel
rather than the true Gospel given us by God and interpreted
by His Church. So, in short, the lack of respect for human
life is a part of a general disintegration in faith by a
very large segment of the Catholic Church. It would be
totally impossible to be pro-abortion and believe in Jesus
Christ and his Catholic Church
One thing that I have found to
be profoundly troubling is the attitude of most people
towards abortion. As a Jewish kid I grew up with images and
stories about the Nazi Holocaust. We are used to learning
about the evil that Hitler and his followers did and how
monstrous they were. During the anti war movement of the
60s and 70s one of the slogans was, “What would happen if
politicians started a war but nobody came?” Hitler, Gerbels
and all of them could have done nothing if the people simply
said, no, to the order to exterminate millions. It took a
whole nation to carry out those atrocities.
I remember
reading accounts of the GIs entering the death camps and
seeing the unbelievable horror of what happened and seeing
the walking skeletons of those who had not yet been
exterminated. Battle-hardened soldiers dropped to their
knees in tears. Those soldiers then went to the town where
that death camp was and ordered the townspeople to go into
the camps to see for themselves what was happening right in
front of them. The soldiers demanded to know if those
people knew what was happening and, eventually, they had to
admit that they did.
Sometimes I
feel like one of those Gis when I hear people speak of
“”choice,” “women’s health,” “personal goals” and other
euphemisms with respect to the pre-born babies who are being
burned alive, cut to pieces or sucked up in vacuumed tubes
in today’s death camps which are euphemistically being
called abortion clinics. It is especially troubling when
people who call themselves “Catholic” are perfectly fine
with the slaughter of more than 55 million babies in their
mother’s wombs. My personal belief is that the people who
think that way are closet atheists who do not believe that
each of us is a unique creation of God, conceived with an
eternal soul and destined for Heaven if we keep God’s
commandments. For these people it is impossible for them to
deny the reality of a baby in the womb since ultrasound
images and many websites display both the beauty of the
development of the baby in the womb and, for those willing
to face the truth, images of what an abortion truly is.
Even in my parish I hear language like; “A woman has the
right to choose,” “It’s only tissue” or “everybody is
entitled to their opinion.” That kind of language is a
clear evidence that those people regard their selfish needs
as more important than a human life. If you want to make
those people really angry show them the picture of an
aborted baby. They will hate you for that but they won’t
hate the abortion. Look at what is happening today and you
will see that what the Nazis did is still going on with the
consent of many and the contrived blindness of others. YOU
CANNOT BE BOTH CATHOLIC AND PRO-CHOICE. I could do a whole
essay on the use of the word, choice. I have to say that it
is a bit disheartening to start a pro-life ministry in the
parish and receive so little support from the pews. Some
say that it is merely another social justice issue but how
can anybody call mass murder just one more issue? |
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Virginia: |
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Do you have any suggestions for OLMC
parishioners and others who believe in the sanctity and
value of human life to become more involved in Prolife
challenges? |
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Wayne:
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Thank God, Miriam and I have found other
parishioners who believe in defending life and we are
working to form the ministry. For parishioners who believe
in protecting innocent and helpless people whether they are
still in the womb or severely disabled or critically ill or
injured we now have a Respect Life Ministry just getting
started in the parish. Please bring your prayers, your
experiences, you knowledge and your hearts to this
ministry. That does not mean that you have to make a
full-time commitment to the mission but offer your help when
you can. Let us know what you want to do and we will do our
best to work it in. It may be that you can offer praying
the Rosary once a week for us; going before the Blessed
Sacrament for an hour; offering a day of fasting or other
sacrifice or offering your professional skills, testimony or
other contribution. Everyone who believes in the sanctity
of each human life has something they can give-just make the
move to do it. In my previous pro-life ministry we had
members from age 11 to 79 and all of them worked hard and
made valuable contributions. The young people asked for
their own group and we consented eagerly to their request.
As a result many events and ideas geared to the young were
produced, with some adult input of course. |
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Virginia:
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Considering your leadership in Prolife
challenges, some of our readers may not know that you are
blind. When did you become blind and how did that affect
your faith and profession. |
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Virginia:
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I have a hereditary eye disease called,
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and I have been partially
blind since birth. When I was about 11 years-old I was at
summer camp and my folks had given me a simple box camera to
use. One day a friend of mine was playing tennis. I
decided to take a picture of him while he was running to hit
the ball. I could only see him as a blur as he ran but,
when I got the pictures back, it was incredible. I could
see him running with the racket poised as a white streak
(the ball) moved toward him. Even more interesting, his
tongue was hanging out of the corner of his mouth. I was
able to study that frozen image and see things that I had
never seen before. I also had fun showing the picture
around to our friends (smile).
That
epiphany lead to a deeper and deeper interest in the
photographic image. Over time, my pictures became more
important to me both as a way of seeing the unseen and in
capturing a wide range of images. Eventually, my parents
bought me a 35mm camera and things got much more serious.
As I developed my skills and technique with a camera I began
getting requests from friends, neighbors and family to take
their portraits. People seemed to like what I did. I had
to develop tricks for viewing and focusing since part of my
eye condition caused “night blindness” which meant that I
could not see much in low levels of light. I learned to use
a small pocket flashlight to have my subjects hold as a
point of focus. I purchased some very bright studio lights
to aid in composition and these methods permitted me to get
excellent results. For a few years I teamed up with a
friend who was also a photographer and our scope expanded
from portraits to events such as weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and
other special events. Along with these photos I developed
an interest in landscape, still-life and, eventually,
nudes. People were amazed at the quality of my work. At
Columbia College the instructors in photography allowed me
to audit their classes because I could not use darkroom
equipment which was an essential part of the classes.
Nevertheless, even the instructors were amazed at the
quality and variety of my work. Eventually, my vision
deteriorated to the point where even my special tools were
not enough to create good photographs and in 1985 I closed
my studio and sold off my equipment. It was a very
difficult time.
Today, I
still have many boxes filled with negatives and I have some
prints to show, but don’t ask me where it was taken or what
it is... |
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Virginia: |
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I understand that you are very active on the
internet because you have a talking computer. Could you
explain how a talking computer works ? |
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Wayne
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I thank
God all the time that I am living in a time where there are
so many tools to help blind people through technology. My
grandfather, Sid, was a I thank God all the time that I am
living in a time where there are so many tools to help blind
people through technology. My grandfather, Sid, was a
blind attorney at a time when none of these tech toys
existed. He was amazing.
I have a
screen-reading program called
JAWS, which stands for Job Access for Work, produced by
a company called Freedom Scientific. It is one of several
programs on the market that range from very expensive to
free. With JAWS the program interacts with what is on the
screen to read it in a mechanical voice. It cannot read
graphics but even that is starting to change. I use
Microsoft programs, surf the internet and create documents
and spread sheets. Some of the young blind tech people are
doing even more advance things including programming.
Many of my blind friends are using smart
phones but I still have a flip-phone that talks me through
basic functions. The more I learn about I phones the more
interested I am in learning to use one. Good ones are
expensive and it isn’t in my budget right now, but I have a
feeling that, somewhere down the road, I’ll get one and try
to use it. There are other tech devices that would be of
help to me, but, again, they tend to have very high price
tags since they are not large volume sellers.
Technically,
I am retired now, but God has opened the doors for me to
form a not-for-profit corporation called,
Not By Sight Media, NFP. The company exists to tell my
story and, eventually other people’s stories, to help others
on their life journeys and, hopefully, help them to avoid
some of the mistakes that I did, most importantly, to
understand that Jesus Christ is who he says he is and that
he loves us enough to die on the cross for us. He wants to
save us and bring us to Heaven! For Heaven’s sake, why do
so many people want to stop him? |
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