Dear Deacon John,
As we reach the end of this 40 Days for Life campaign, all I can really say is thank you!
Through your prayers, fasting and peaceful presence, there are babies alive today who were scheduled to be aborted. You made the difference ... and God has blessed your efforts!
It hasn’t been easy … but the reality is that the pro-life movement has more momentum now than at any time in history. Meanwhile, the public perception of the abortion industry is at an all-time low.
The prayers and dedication of you and so many others makes this time in history the beginning of the end of abortion.
In the face of what goes on in abortion centers around the world – even though it requires us getting out of our comfort zones – one person does make a difference.
Rochester, Minnesota
The Planned Parenthood abortion facility doesn’t stop doing abortions just because it’s raining and windy outside. The enemy is still out to steal, kill and destroy regardless of the weather conditions.
Sometimes we are called to go out and be a light in the darkness even when it’s uncomfortable for us. Ministry isn’t always comfortable. Most often times it stretches us out of our comfort zone.
The bitter cold rain has my fingers numb, my nose frozen and dripping, my eyes watering, and my shoes and jeans are no longer dry and comfortable. But the life of a child … the life of a mother and the life of a father … is far more important than my comfort.
While I was standing here praying, a man and a woman sat facing me in their parked car in front of Planned Parenthood. She was crying and he was just staring at me and the other woman praying with me.
They sat there for ten minutes. They never got out of the car … and eventually left, pulling out of the parking lot.
Who knows? A life just might have been saved today! I may never know that this side of heaven, but what I do know is that it’s important to be obedient to the call of God to be a light in the darkness sharing the truth.
Abortion hurts. And there is help … and there is a better way!
From Paula, the 40 Days for Life coordinator in Rochester.
Houston, Texas
One person has so much power to affect the lives around them both in offering strength and in moments of weakness!
We were told of a child who was going to be born and die soon after birth. Abortionists had told the parents to “terminate.” The father worked with children in a disciplinary public school; his heart of compassion and his wife didn’t hesitate in defense of their own child.
The students were told about the baby’s situation. On the day of the baby’s birth, the substitute teacher recommended that everyone pause for a moment of silence for the teacher’s wife and baby. To the substitute’s surprise, the troubled kids all around the room folded their hands in prayer and bowed their heads.
That little baby, in his short life, helped bring about a moment of compassion, a moment when these kids who had been kicked out of schools around town because of major problems took a moment to turn to God.
Intrinsic human dignity is separate and beyond our strengths and our weakness.
You – one person – can help be that voice for the unborn who have no voice and for the women to afraid to speak out!
From the 40 Days for Life team in Houston.
Here’s today’s devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life.
Day 40 intention
Let us keep our eyes fixed on the New Jerusalem, where death will be no more.
Scripture
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
—Revelation 21:4-5
Reflection
Every activity we undertake in defense of the sanctity of life is prophetic, inasmuch as it points to the day when "death will be no more."
Every victory we have when an act of abortion is prevented is prophetic of that day when death itself will be definitively conquered.
Every triumph of grace in this world, whereby someone is brought to see the value of life and given the strength to welcome it, is a breaking into our history of that definitive future in which the old order of things will have passed, and all things will be made new.
As pro-life warriors, we must keep our eyes fixed on heaven, and our hearts secure in the hope that the day is coming when all evil will be conquered. It is the future that shapes the present; it is victory that informs the battle; it is the destination that determines the journey.
Daily, we are called to reflect on heaven. When we weep, we are to think of the day when every tear will be wiped away.
When we face the destructive power of death, we are to think of the day when death is swallowed up in victory.
When we labor against abortion, we are to think of the day when we will have the rest and peace of the final triumph of life.
Heaven is as real as earth, and its joys will be as real as our present sorrows.
Prayer
Father, you are the God of hope. Your word fills us with the vision of the world to come, when every tear will be wiped away, and death will be no more. Father, how we need that hope, how we are strengthened by that vision!
Keep our hearts focused on heaven, and diligent in the labors of earth. As we struggle against the culture of death, root our souls in the assurance of victory. We pray through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Printable devotional
To download today's devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share:
http://40daysforlife.com/media/day40.pdf
For life,
 |
SHAWN CARNEY
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
|
|
|
