Marianne felt a little better today but is still in some chest pain and very weak. The doctors have given her all they can of pain medicine. I brought her Holy Communion from the 9am Mass, which I just gave her a small piece because she has a hard time swallowing. The doctor said she has severe lung and heart damage. All my kids have come down to see her and stayed most of the day. I'll go back in the morning after the St. Joseph Day Mass. Thanks to all for your prayers!
Blessings+
Deacon John
Dear Deacon, Today I am sharing only one story. I cannot give you
the location, but it starts with a rare blessing --
someone calling the wrong number. When you pray and fast for an end to abortion and
work together with local pro-life organizations, it
can save lives. The caller on the other end of the phone line asked,
"Is this Planned Parenthood?" Well, it wasn't. In
fact, she had reached Planned Parenthood's neighbor
-- a local pro-life organization. The organization's staff member who answered quickly
realized there was an abortion-minded woman on the
line. So she offered the woman a free ultrasound.
The woman wasn’t interested -- and said she really
just wanted Planned Parenthood, so there wasn't much
else to say. The pro-life staffer again told her the ultrasound
would be free -- but that if she went to Planned
Parenthood, they would charge her. At that point, things started to change. The woman on
the phone agreed to an appointment for an ultrasound. So the staff member called a pro-life pregnancy center
to set up the ultrasound. The people at the pregnancy
center said they had just spoken to this same woman,
who had called them about 30 minutes previously. "We have been praying that you guys would be able to
reach her before she reached Planned Parenthood," said
the scheduler at the pregnancy center. "I was amazed at the specific way they prayed and how
God answered that prayer," said the staff member who
had originally received the "wrong number" phone call. How could this woman have confused both a pro-life
group and a pregnancy center with Planned Parenthood?
"The only explanation is God’s intervention and
answers to prayer!" The young woman, however, did not show up for her
ultrasound appointment. But the next day, she turned
up unannounced at the pro-life office. "She told me that she had had an abortion in the past
and was considering having another," the staffer
explained. "This new baby was not her husband's baby.
She had gotten pregnant by another man while separated
from her husband. The more details I heard about her
life, the stickier the situation seemed to be. I could
see that she was struggling a lot and seemed to think
that abortion would be the answer to her situation." She wanted to know how far along the pregnancy was so
she could "take care of it soon enough." That enabled
the staff member to talk about fetal development --
that there was already a living human being there from
the moment of conception. "After hearing about the baby's life inside the womb,
she expressed sorrow and said she had murdered her last
child. She wondered how God could ever accept her into
heaven since she had broken this commandment to not
murder, and we talked about the gracious gift of
salvation that God offers through Jesus." This time, the woman accepted the free ultrasound offer
and was able to see the image of her child. She thanked
the pro-life staff for their help and said she would be
talking to her boyfriend about the decision. "We are praying for her," said the staff member, "that
she will not ignore what she now knows about abortion
-- and about her baby -- and that she will choose life." Please keep this woman and her child in your prayers.
Today's devotional is from Fr. Frank Pavone, national
director of Priests for Life.
------------------------------------------------------
DAY 26 INTENTION
------------------------------------------------------ Pray that we fully recognize in the unborn child our
brother, our sister, and we recommit ourselves to care
for them.
------------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
------------------------------------------------------ Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the
field." And while they were in the field, Cain
attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother
Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's
keeper?" The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your
brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." -- Genesis 4:8-10
------------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION
------------------------------------------------------ After Cain committed the first murder in human
history, God asked him, "Where is your brother?" He replied by saying, "I don't know." In 1973, the Supreme Court was asked the same
question, and gave the same answer. Unable to admit that the unborn children are our
brothers and sisters, the Supreme Court said in its
Roe v. Wade ruling, "We need not resolve the difficult
question of when life begins." Boil all that down to three words, and it's, "I don't
know." The question, "Where is your brother?" will be asked
at the final judgment. Each person will answer it and
be judged by it. May we be judged to have recognized
and loved all our brothers and sisters, born and
unborn. By participating in the 40 Days for Life, we have been
answering that question each day, going to where our
brothers and sisters are killed, and proclaiming that
we have a responsibility to them. By all the pro-life work we will continue to do, we
likewise answer that question which reaches from one
end of human history to the other.
------------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
------------------------------------------------------ Father, today we hear your voice, and we respond to
the question you ask each of us: "Where is your
brother?" We recognize in the unborn child our brother, our
sister, and we recommit ourselves today to care for
them. Yes, Father, you have entrusted us to the care of one
another. We rejoice that you have given us the grace
to respond. As we work to renew our culture, we look forward to
the great day of the coming of your Son, when every
eye will see him, even of those who pierced him, and
every knee shall bend, and every tongue confess, to
the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is
Lord! Amen.
------------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
------------------------------------------------------ To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/spring2012day26print.pdf
------------------------------------------------------ Have a blessed Sunday, and know how much I appreciate
you, Deacon! Yours for Life, Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life PS: Are there special people in your town who are making
a difference with your 40 Days for Life campaign? Please
share the good news by replying to today's blog entry: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2972 40 Days for Life 10908 Courthouse Road
Suite 102229
Fredericksburg, VA
22408
US
