Dear Deacon, There is a lot of darkness in the abortion industry. One of the blessings of 40 Days for Life is that it
helps bring the light of Christ to places that prefer
to remain in the shadows. Here are some stories from cities where His light
is shining.
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BOISE, IDAHO
------------------------------------------------------- The 40 Days for Life team in Boise is in the middle of
its second campaign, and response so far is excellent.
"96 percent of our vigil hours are full," said Karen. She said one of the Boise campaign highlights is "the
bonding of an area-wide community of life" consisting
of 21 churches from various Christian denominations --
"churches that would not have come together except
through the 40 Days for Life vigil." At rallies and sign-up events, the leaders talked about
the local abortion totals -- 1,572 annually in their
county alone, most of them performed at Planned
Parenthood. To show how many that is, the Boise team got a big jar
and filled it with 1,572 pieces of candy -- one for
each abortion. "That really spoke volumes to everyone,"
Karen said. To see photos from the Boise vigil, please go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2810
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
------------------------------------------------------- "The Holy Spirit is definitely moving among us in
Everett," said Scholastica, one of the local leaders.
"This is our ninth campaign -- more people and more
churches are involved." One Saturday, 20 pro-abortion protesters arrived, so
vigil participants called others to come pray. These
demonstrators brought signs with messages such as,
"Honk if you love Planned Parenthood." About a dozen people continued to pray while all of
this was going on. "We were still outnumbered,"
Scholastica said, "but we were not discouraged." She said the prayer volunteers "went home with conviction
of the utmost urgency to pray not only for the end to
abortion but also for the conversion of the hearts in
our community -- to see the truth that abortion is wrong." For a photo of the vigil in Everett, please go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2810
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MANASSAS, VIRGINIA
------------------------------------------------------- A woman approached the 40 Days for Life volunteers in
Manassas and offered a small donation. The volunteers
were appreciative, but said they needed prayer rather
than financial assistance. They then explained in detail
why the vigil was necessary. The woman was stunned. She told them she was from Egypt,
and she was shocked to learn that abortion was legal in
the United States. She then said she was a Christian and
that she wanted to join the prayer. "The entire incident reminds us that when rational people
first learn about abortion," said Mike in Manassas, "they
are repulsed by the concept of legally killing our unborn
children. Our citizens have been slowly desensitized and
it's through our visible witness that we can be a stimulus
to wake people from their slumber." For pictures of the 40 Days for Life volunteers in
Manassas, please go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2810
Today's devotional is from Fr. Frank Pavone, national
director of Priests for Life.
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DAY 11 INTENTION
------------------------------------------------------ Pray that people of faith will have their strength
renewed even in the face of the violence of abortion.
------------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
------------------------------------------------------ The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies
are not spent. They are renewed each morning, so great
is his faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my
portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the
one who seeks him; it is good to wait in silence for
the saving help of the Lord. -- Lamentations 3:22-26
------------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
------------------------------------------------------ The Book of Lamentations, a short book of only five
chapters, contains some of the most poignant
expressions of human grief. These verses are used in many Churches on Good Friday,
since they can be seen to express a prophecy of the
suffering of the Lord and the lamentation of his
followers on that dark day. But in the midst of his grief, Jeremiah writes the
verses quoted above. "The favors of the Lord are not
exhausted." It is a call to hope that no matter how
much violence there is, life will prevail in the end. Why does he say, however, that God's mercies are
renewed each morning? Because early in the morning, on the first day of the
week, the women came to the tomb -- and they found
that the events of that morning changed everything. Christ's victory over death came in the morning, and
therefore each day we can renew our confidence that
life has the final victory.
------------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
------------------------------------------------------ Lord, look kindly on your people who weep and mourn
amidst the vast devastation that abortion has brought
upon our land. We cannot even count the children
killed, and the mothers and fathers wounded. We cannot measure the devastation and corruption
abortion has brought upon the very fabric of our
society. But we declare today that your favors have
not been exhausted, your mercies have not been spent.
They are renewed each morning. Give us new strength today in the resurrection of
Christ your Son, that we may bear effective witness to
the victory of life! In His name we pray, Amen.
------------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
------------------------------------------------------ To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/spring2012day11print.pdf
------------------------------------------------------ Yours for Life, Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life PS: Has overcoming challenges been one of the blessings
at your 40 Days for Life campaign? If you have any good
news to share, please comment on today's blog entry at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2810
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