I am writing you today from Harare, Zimbabwe where I am on mission with Dr. Brian Clowes, Mr. Emil Hagamu and HLI’s local affiliate. Our mission has been very fruitful because of your prayers and support; however, because of poor catechesis, corruption, economic hardships and decades of “colonization of the mind”, there is a tremendous need for pro-life evangelization. Life and family are under siege and suffer under the deceptive weight of the contraceptive mentality. Several mission programs revealed how systemic the problem is and the level to which the government and eighty population control groups will go to sustain their agenda. Numerous times we heard, “We need contraception to solve the issues of poverty… We are very poor and cannot afford children.” I will provide more about this mission in upcoming columns. But to the International Day of the Unborn.
Meanwhile, as we prepare to enter these most solemn of days, please join me in prayer for the people of Zimbabwe and the universal Church, for there is no place where Life and family are not struggling. Today, we usually celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, which offers us opportunity to contemplate the gift of the Incarnation – the Healer of human nature – and Mary’s trust in the will of God.
When St. Pope John Paul II released his extraordinary pro-life encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, he fittingly did so on March 25 – the Feast of the Annunciation. On this feast, the Universal Church celebrates two great mysteries: 1) The moment when the Godhead first took on human flesh, and became incarnate within the womb of Mary, and, 2) Mary’s fiat, her free, total act of trust in God, by means of which she became Theotokos, “Mother of God,” and thereby the instrument by which God brought about His plan of salvation for the whole human race.
Each of these mysteries has enormous, direct relevance on our struggle to protect all human life. This, undoubtedly, is why St. Pope John Paul II encouraged the growth of the celebration of March 25 as the “International Day of the Unborn.” I hope you will join me in celebrating, using some of the suggestions mentioned at the end of this column . . .
