Happy Birthday Mother Teresa!

Today would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday, and how are American Catholics celebrating? By tossing her around like a political football!

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, of course, is spending the day at the Empire State building, protesting the management's decision not to light up in honor of the beloved humanitarian. He says that it's a sign of anti-Catholicism.

Meanwhile progressive groups are striking back. Donohue "is doing the opposite of what Mother Teresa … would have wanted him to do," David Nolan, director of communications for Catholics for Choice, told FOXNews.com, calling the protest a "self-promotion campaign."

Now I would agree that there are a lot better ways to celebrate Mother Teresa's birthday than protesting in front of a building: Volunteering, going to Mass, praying, sending a donation to the Missionaries of Charity, eating some cake.

But might the Catholics for Choice need to take the plank out of their own eye before pointing to the splinter in Donohue's? What exactly is the point of Catholics for Choice picking sides in this debate? Surely, they've gotten plenty of publicity for themselves as well.

I say that we Catholics ought to ignore all of this negativity around the Empire State building and celebrate Mother Teresa's birthday in a loving, compassionate, life-giving way. How will you be celebrating?

About the author

Megan Sweas

Megan Sweas is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.