DAY 16: Day of the Unborn Child

Image via Wikipedia

Dear Deacon,

Today's devotional is about the incarnation of Christ --
complete with the passage from Luke's gospel where the
angel Gabriel brings God's message to the Virgin Mary.

Tomorrow is March 25 -- a day celebrated in a number of
nations, especially in South America, as the Day of the
Unborn Child.

And that idea is catching on around the world!

March 25 is exactly nine months before Christmas. This
date has been observed by many Christians throughout the
history of the church, as it marks the day that "the
Word became flesh."

As you pray, reflect upon Jesus in the womb -- and
think about His children in the womb today. Through His
grace, may today’s world accept both Christ AND His
precious children!

Before we get to the devotional, here are some stories
from 40 Days for Life campaigns.

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CANTON, OHIO
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As the world rejects Christ, it often rejects those who
stand for His children. A woman in Canton found this out
while praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil.

A car pulled up to the red light at the corner next to
Planned Parenthood. The driver rolled his window down
and unleashed all sorts of nastiness in her direction.
The tirade ended only when the light turned green.

"The beauty of God's design is, of course, that this man's
insane, obscene chanting, accompanied by his gestures,
garnered the sympathy and support of Planned Parenthood
clients," she said.

Onlookers in Planned Parenthood's parking lot were
horrified at what he said, and took an interest in
her wellbeing -- and took her pro-life literature.

"One woman pulled out of Planned Parenthood and asked
me to be careful," she said. "Another witness said,
'I'm on your side.'"

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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
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A young man joined the 40 Days for Life vigil in
Milwaukee for the first time recently -- and was
promptly greeted by "clinic escorts" who called the
police. He, of course, was doing nothing wrong.

"The fact is," said Dan in Milwaukee, "they knew he was
a fresh face here and they wanted to intimidate him into
never coming back." This is not the first time Dan has
seen this.

The police arrived, talked to him, and quickly departed.
"Nothing resulted from the brief visit," Dan said, aside
from the abortion center wasting taxpayers' money on
officers following up a bogus complaint.

Dan needed to cheer up the young man, so he told him
about the baby who was saved the day before. "His face
lit up like the sun, smiling from ear to ear."

Speaking of Milwaukee, the 40 Days for Life team has its
green smocks again -- the ones that look almost exactly
like the ones Planned Parenthood’s escorts wear. In fact,
they even say "parenthood volunteer" with a cross-like
design that resembles the style of Planned Parenthood’s
logo.

To see a picture of green-smocked volunteers in Milwaukee,
go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1756

Planned Parenthood tried to pull a fast one -- they
switched to orange smocks for their escorts. "They looked
really pleased with themselves," Dan said.

But his team was ready -- they pulled out orange versions
of THEIR OWN smocks! He’d seen one of the orange Planned
Parenthood smocks earlier and sensed that something was
up. So they had some orange "parenthood volunteer" smocks
on hand just in case Planned Parenthood switched colors.

The vigil participants put on the orange and Dan says
the smiles on the escorts' faces "turned upside down --
WAY down!"

Today's devotional is from Randolph Sly of the
National Pro-life Religious Council.

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DAY 16 INTENTION
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May the mystery of the Incarnation increase our zeal
for defending life.

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SCRIPTURE
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Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and
shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will
be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God
will give Him the throne of His father David. And He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end."

-- Luke 1:30-33

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REFLECTION by Randolph Sly
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"God has assumed Humanity, joining it with Divinity,
and kindled in men's hearts new love of me." These
words were written by a Roman poet in the Fourth
Century. He spent his life finding ways to express the
greatest mystery of the world: the incarnation, in
which God became man.

The womb has been referred to as the "first home of
the whole human race." It is the place where life
begins, where our stories start.

In the womb the great men and women of history began
their magnificent march through life.

In the womb Divinity met humanity, and God the Son was
born into the world.

As one of the Fathers of the early church, St. Leo the
Great, declared, "Within her spotless womb Wisdom
built itself a house and the Word became flesh."

Recently, I was at the hospital for the birth of my
fourth grandchild. Looking through the nursery window
at the rows of newly born babies, I began to think of
the great stories that would be written about these
tiny lives.

During his visitation with the Virgin Mary, the angel
prophesied to Mary about the life of her child. Here
in this hospital, I pondered, what would he say about
each of these?

Would they meet the one who also came from His
mother's womb to redeem the world and kindle our
hearts afresh for God?

I thanked God for each baby alive and prayed for each
story yet to be written.

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PRAYER
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Heavenly Father, you have made the womb of each woman
a very special place.

Help us to hold fast to the sanctity of this first
home of humanity, remembering the wonderful mystery,
that God inhabited the womb of a young woman and came
forth as the savior and deliverer of the world.

We ask this in the Name of the one who came forth,
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

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PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
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To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:

http://40daysforlife.com/docs/spring2011day16print.pdf

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Yours for Life,

Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

PS: What's new at 40 Days for Life in your community?
Please share any blessings by replying to today's
blog entry:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1756

 40 Days for Life

10908 Courthouse Road
Suite 102229
Fredericksburg, VA
22408
US

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