Day 17 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray that we choose to trust God to bring an end to abortion soon, no matter how impossible that may seem to others.

Scripture:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."

-- Ezekiel 37:1-3

Reflection:

You and I are standing in a world today over a field of dry bones: those who have been killed by abortion, those who have been killed by so many other things attacking the dignity of human life. And God has placed us here; we find ourselves here in the midst of this incredible tragedy. Like Ezekiel, you and I are in a dilemma because God says to us: "Speak and proclaim the Word of Life. Keep doing it. Let nothing deter you."

People can say, "This is humanly foolish, humanly impossible. How can we transform the world from the path of death that it's on?" Yet we choose to do the "foolish" thing rather than the dangerous thing.

If you ever doubt that we can bring an end to this culture of death, this destruction of the family, this destruction of life by abortion, if you ever think for a moment that it's impossible, then ask yourself this: Can a man who has been scourged, crowned with thorns, nailed hands and feet to a cross, pierced with a lance, has died and been buried; can such a man ever live again?

Prayer:

Lord, I thank you for giving me the holy dilemma of having to choose between the foolish thing or the dangerous thing. Yet for me the solution is clear. Lord, I will obey you, even if it means aiming for a goal which, in the eyes of others, seems foolish. I will obey you, and will hope for the end of abortion soon, no matter how impossible that may seem to others. I dare not mistrust you; I dare not doubt your power; I dare not fail to follow your call. In you, who raise the dead, all hope comes alive. Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life