What now?

Now that Terri Schiavo has died (requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei), I humbly submit that we should focus on prayer and on practical steps to save people like her in the future and that we should refrain from any internecine or other activity that would hinder those efforts.

We must pray for Terri, her parents, and those who cry for her: that the Lord may be good to them in his mercy.

We should pray for those who sought her death: that they may have true repentance and contrition (appropriate investigations must continue, of course).

We must focus our energies to help people like Terri in the future through

• Serious public education and evangelization
• Doing what we can to coordinate private and public resources so that people in Terri’s condition can always receive care
• Lobbying for appropriate legislation on state and federal levels
• Electing legislators at all levels who will work effectively for a true “culture of life”
• Working for the selection or election of local judges who in such cases are diligent in their finding of fact and faithful in their interpretation of law.