Day 25 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

That God will bless us with His gift of strength as we respond in obedience to His call.

Scripture:

Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'surely we did not know this', does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

-- Proverbs 24:11-12

Reflection:

In this age of technologically advanced communication, ignorance of human rights abuses is no excuse. We know there are persecuted Christians in China, there is genocide in Darfur, and there are babies aborted and women and families devastated right in our own communities.

"But I can't save them all" you say. God isn't asking you to. He has equipped each of us with time, talent, and treasure to do what we can when He provides the opportunity. He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us as we abide in Him. He is asking us to be on His side in speaking out and protecting those who can't protect themselves.

When we are obedient to His calling to get in on the work He is doing, we will experience intimacy with Him in a whole new way. Our faith will increase as we see God at work! You have responded to His call during this 40 Days for Life campaign.

Let your efforts be for His pleasure and His purposes. Pray without ceasing!

Prayer:

God Almighty, we pray for continued guidance and strength as we intercede on behalf of the young women and their babies who are stumbling to the slaughter. Open the eyes of the mother's heart to see her child as you do - a precious gift to be treasured. Let her feel Your loving arms around her and may she be assured that you have a plan and a future for her and her child. Give her reason not to enter the abortion clinic. Give her wisdom and discernment to find life options through a local pregnancy care center and may she boldly choose life. Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayer. Because of Your Son's sacrifice we pray, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

40 Days For Life

"Special Olympics"

Sarah Palin puts the Special Olympics in the appropriate context - the context of participation in sports for all our family members.


(h/t The Corner)

(meanwhile, Fox News reports that Tim Maloney, a 38-year-old with Down Syndrome who has been bowling for 30 years, said President Obama needs to practice more if he wants to bring his recent score of 129 anywhere close to Maloney's average of 165!)

Day 24 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

That we may realize the generational impact of abortion.

Scripture:

Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said," If it is thus, why do I live?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger."

-- Genesis 25:21-23

Reflection:

Human beings -- God's tapestries.

What an answer to prayer!

Who dares to say that the unborn are not human, with distinct personality and character right from the moment of conception? This account emphasizes the vitality and uniqueness of the twins who, because of Isaac's prayer for his wife, were conceived in Rebekah's womb.

When Rebekah was told by the Lord that the older would serve the younger twin, God already knew that Jacob and Esau would lead turbulent and conflicted lives. God knows us and knows all about us, including our personality and disposition long before we are actually born, indeed, from the moment we are conceived in our mother's womb.

What a tragedy of gargantuan proportions that babies, planned and endowed by the Creator, with distinct and unique personalities and with, perhaps, a future and destiny intended for greatness, have their lives snuffed out by cruel abortionists before they ever see the light of day! May our prayers that the dreadful scourge of abortion in our land may vanish be as fervent as Isaac's were for Rebekah.

Prayer:

O, God, you formed us in our mother's womb and planned a unique and special life and purpose for each of us, and we do thank you. Grant that we may pray and work for an end to abortion, especially in these 40 Days, so that no unborn baby you have made may fail to achieve your divine intention for him or her because of intentional abortion. We pray this for the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rev. Ben Sheldon
President Emeritus, Presbyterians Pro-life and National Pro-life Religious Council



40 Days For Life

Harvard: Pope Is Right About HIV/AIDS

LifeSiteNews:

Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, has said that the evidence confirms that the Pope is correct in his assessment that condom distribution exacerbates the problem of AIDS.

"The pope is correct," Green told National Review Online Wednesday, "or put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope's comments."

"There is," Green added, "a consistent association shown by our best studies, including the U.S.-funded 'Demographic Health Surveys,' between greater availability and use of condoms and higher (not lower) HIV-infection rates.

The facts don't have any impact on the so-called mainstream media. They have their press releases from the 'Culture of Death' and its just sooo convenient to reprint them verbatim. The more abmbitious 'journalists' will trouble to add a little invective.

I long for the day that the UN and the WHO will no longer be seen by the ignorant masses as guileless benefactors of mankind, but I doubt I'll live that long.
.

Day 23 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

For the medical community, that the truth they know about the human body may become awe and wonder at the God who made it.

Scripture:

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

--Psalm 139:16

Reflection:

Human beings -- God's tapestries.

Psalm 139 is a psalm that reveals the enormity and otherness of God. His divine attributes are on display: omniscience (2-4), omnipresence (7-12), loving-kindness (17-18), justice (19-20), righteousness (23-24), and omnipotence. Yet, when it came to express this last attribute, what example did the psalmist use - God's creation of mountains, seas, or far-flung galaxies? No, he used none of these. To express the wonder of God's unparalleled creative power the writer mentions the fashioning of the human in the womb (14-16).

The Hebrew word used to express God's forming of us in the womb, raqam, is the same term for needlework or embroidery. In other words, we are a tapestry that displays God's artistic mastery. And, like the artist who knows his creation down to the last detail, God intimately knows us. This reality provokes the writer to awe and wonder. He proclaims, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

What is true for this psalmist is true for each human being. Each is fashioned by God and known by him and we can proclaim on behalf of each, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Prayer:

Gracious God, help us to appreciate the wonder and beauty of Your creation. Help us proclaim on behalf of every one of our fellow human beings, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." May the knowledge that we are intimately known by You shape our lives and actions. Amen.

Rev. J. Kirk van der Swaagh
Pastor, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference



40 Days For Life

"I Am That Exception"

FEMINISTS FOR LIFE


Angelica Rosales tells her story, that of a child whose mother had a serious health risk in pregnancy, yet ignored doctor's advice.


Noone wants a mother to die in childbirth or pregnancy. Fortunately, actual instances of risk are infrequent. A 'life' position and a Catholic position , is to try to maintain the health and life of both patients. If the child should die in the circumstance of trying to save the mother's life, that is not the same as deliberately killing the child to 'save' the mother.

We have an obligation to do all that we can. We cannot do more. Nor can we makes ourselves the arbiters of life and death.

That is God's domain.

Catholic Carnival #216

A Catholic Mom Climbing The Pillars hosts with a collection of quatrains, essays on ecumenism and communion, philosophy, worship and family life. Great links to great sites!

Day 22 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray for fathers who participated in the decision to abort their child, and for those who did not have a voice, that they would find freedom and healing in Christ.

Scripture:

If indeed you have heard Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

-- Ephesians 4: 21-23

Reflection:

According to the Guttmacher Institute, one-third of American women will have had an abortion by age 45. Seldom reported however is the fact that an equally significant number of men have played a role in terminating a pregnancy. Some have participated through persuasion, or by providing the financial means for the abortion. Still others were against an abortion, but had no sway in the decision to terminate their child.

Only in recent years have we realized that men suffer from their loss, as more and more seek healing. Warren Williams, founder of Fathers and Brothers Ministries says he believes men are coming forward for help because God instilled in men a desire to be a protector of their lineage, a provider for their families, to be a husband and father.

Men are suffering and grieving the loss of their children, and though their grief may be expressed differently than that of a woman, it is grief nonetheless and they too need tender care and biblical counseling to experience forgiveness and healing.

Intervention at the appropriate time in the decision-making process may spare both the young man and woman from the lifelong pain and trauma of abortion. Biblical counseling for post-abortive men and women is essential for them to heal and begin their life anew in Christ.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, We pray for young men who participated in the termination of their child and are broken as You are over their loss. Forgive their sin, Lord, and bring opportunity for healing and renewal of their minds in Christ Jesus. For those suffering from an abortion they did not choose, restore their joy as they learn to forgive others and trust You with their future. In the name of Christ, who heals the brokenhearted, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

40 Days For Life

Mustard Seed Children's Home Burns Down

Observer:

...Last night, as firemen from the York Park Fire Station carried out cooling down operations, Assistant Superintendent Basil Richards said that the building was still being checked to ascertain if anyone was left inside.

Unconfirmed reports were that 30 children and two caregivers were in the two- storey wooden building when the blaze started.

"I am not certain how it happened, I just got a call that it was on fire," Father Gregory Ramkissoon, founder and executive director of the Mustard Seed Communities, told the Observer. "The entire building is gone."

Today I received an e-mail forwarded from Father Ramkissoon:

Dear Friend in Christ,

Greetings from Mustard Seed Communities in Jamaica!

Unfortunately, Martha's House, one of our three Homes for children living
with HIV/AIDS was destroyed by fire last night.

Please keep our children in your prayers as they go through this traumatic
period. Thank you very much.

In Christ,

Fr. Gregory Ramkissoon and the Mustard Seed Communities Family

* With God anything is possible *

Fr. Gregory Ramkissoon
Executive Director
Mustard Seed Communities (Jamaica)
P.O. Box 267, Kingston 10
1 Mahoe Drive, Kingston 11
Jamaica
Tel: 923-6488 / 937-2010 / 923-2165 ext 231
Fax: 923-6000


Mustard Seed Communities

Heroes

Saint Patrick

St. Patrick is one of my favourite saints, by virtue of his evangelization of Ireland. I was born a Mullen, and have always been fond of my 'Irish' roots in Tyrone Co., Northern Ireland.

So, here is a little help to celebrate a great Saint Patrick's Day!


"The Deer's Cry" sung by Angelina, an arrangement of St. Patrick's Breastplate.

Lorica of Saint Patrick

A Biography

A Veggietale Short

Homeschool Activities

Chaplet of Saint Patrick

Hail Glorious St. Patrick

Day 21 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray that we become vessels of hope to all around us, especially to those who minister in the pro-life movement.

Scripture:

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"

-- Luke 24:1-5

Reflection:

This meditation, based on a sermon I once heard, is adapted for pro-life concerns.

It's Friday. Jesus is on the cross. He has been killed by his enemies; he is off the scene. But that's because it's Friday. Sunday's comin'!

It's Friday. Abortionists continue their work 3,300 times a day, tearing off the arms and legs of little babies and crushing their heads. But that's because it's Friday. Sunday's comin'! It's Friday. Pro-abortion groups receive blood money from billionaires who are as deceived as they are. But that's because it's Friday. Sunday's comin'!

It's Friday. Liars attempt to speak for all women and hide the pain of abortion, and ignore the evidence of how it harms women, and call abortion a blessing. But that's because it's Friday. Sunday's comin'! It's Friday. People of hardened hearts guard the clinics and usher desperate women in to have their abortions, while keeping them from the pro-life people who want to give them hope. But that's because it's Friday. Sunday's comin'!

Hope does not mean that we ignore or minimize the evils around us. It means, rather, that we see the whole picture, which is that evil is conquered because of what happened one Sunday morning. The power of sin and death has been broken by the Resurrection of Christ. We are called to proclaim, celebrate, and serve that victory, waiting in joyful hope for Christ's return and the full flowering of the Culture of Life! Indeed, Sunday's comin'!

Prayer:

Lord, fill your people with new hope. Make us vessels of hope to all around us, especially to those who minister in the pro-life movement, that as we engage in the difficult work ahead, we may experience the peace and joy that come only from you and that nobody can take away from us. We ask this through Christ our Lord, amen.

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

40 Days For Life

First Communion Dresses

Many parishes will soon be celebrating First Communions. If you cannot find a beautiful First Communion Dress in your neighborhood, check out the selection at The Catholic Company. While you're at it, consider joining their Affiliate or Parish Products programs. Keep in mind, that The Catholic Company has a project aiming to send the Catholic Catechism - 5000 of them! - to the poor and needy at MOP missions around the world.

Off The Cliff

It will be a quick and disasterous decline.

Albert Mohler:

...Speaking to a conference sponsored by the Oxford International Biomedical Centre, Professor Gardner was ostensibly speaking as an expert on stem cell research. Indeed the conference, "New Body Parts for Old: Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine," was itself ostensibly about embryonic stem cell research. Unexpectedly, Professor Gardner pushed the discussion to the next level.

Gardner's proposal is to use kidney and liver tissues obtained from aborted fetuses in order to treat organ failure in patients. Indeed, Professor Gardner's suggestion went further. He argued that fetal organs could be transplanted into adults. Experiments in mice, he said, indicate that these organs "grow extremely quickly."

This is about as scary as the news can get. Here we confront a serious proposal to use aborted fetuses as factories for spare organs and tissues. Having commodified the human embryo and then allowing its destruction in the name of medical progress, the fetus is next in line.

Professor Stuart Campbell affirmed Gardner's proposal, adding that, if fetuses are going to be aborted, "it is a shame to waste their organs."

In other words, it is just fine to waste their lives and destroy their human dignity, but it is not fine to "waste their organs."...

Hardly seems different from the use of human embryos. Next week maybe we could use premature babies with little chance of survival. The current rate of abortion is supplying more premature babies every day, and they are sooo expensive. A public health care system cannot support futile medical care. Let's make best use of our resources...

Day 20 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

We pray for humility in our work for God's Kingdom.

Scripture:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

-- Philippians 2:5-8

Reflection:

There is no limit to what we can accomplish when we don't care who gets the credit.

Jesus Christ's life on earth exemplifies a total submission to the will of the Father. His humility, compassion, gentleness and thoughtfulness are reflected over and over again in the New Testament. He was God incarnate, yet He chose to be born to a humble, working class home.

How absurd it must have seemed to the rich and powerful that the Son of God, the Messiah, the one foretold by the prophets, the 'King of the Jews' was born and raised as a simple peasant.

During His thirty-three years on earth, He sought no riches, claimed no secular power and gathered no possessions. Yet, His short time on earth changed more lives, softened more hearts, and gave hope to more people, than all the rich and powerful human 'kings' combined. And, at the end of His life on earth, by dying on the cross, He opened the door to eternal life for those who heed his words and follow in his footsteps.

Prayer:

O Lord, help us follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Let us humbly and diligently work to restore legal protection for the unborn, the disabled, the medically dependent and all innocent children of God whose lives are threatened. Let us remember the old adage that "He can never lead who has not first learned to obey." And, Lord, grant us a peaceful heart as we labor in your name. Amen.

Ernest Ohlhoff
Outreach Director, National Right to Life

40 Days For Life

Catholics Funding Pro-Abortion Legislation

LifeSiteNews:

The official international development organization of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is funding groups in Mexico that are pressuring the Mexican government to legalize abortion, LifeSiteNews has learned. The five pro-abortion groups have received $170,000 in total this year from Development and Peace. In an interview with LSN, the Director of International Programs for Development and Peace admitted that the issue of whether or not a group is pro-abortion is not a determining factor in funding.

The money, donated through the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), is being given to at least five different pro-abortion groups, which the CCODP calls "partners". The groups support the legalization of abortion on demand throughout Mexico, call for the government to expedite and guarantee existing legal rights to abortion for rape and other reasons, and urge the distribution of contraceptives, including abortifacient "emergency contraception".

The CCODP "partners" verified by LifeSiteNews as abortion-promoting include the "Miguel Augustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center" ($24,000 Canadian Dollars in 2007-2008 year), the "Mexican Network for Action Regarding Free Trade" ($36,000 CAD), the "Center for Economic and Political Research for Community Action" ($40,000 CAD), the "National Center for Social Communication" ($30,000 CAD), and the "All Rights for Everyone Network" ($40,000 CAD).

Mexican pro-abortion groups will receive a total of $850,000 CAD for the period 2006-2011, if last year's budget is representative of all five years in the CCODP five year plan. The money will largely come from funds donated through "Share Lent" and other diocesan fundraising programs held by the Catholic bishops of Canada...

The Catholic Church in Canada is defrauding faithful Catholics and using their well-intentioned charity for evil . THIS IS SO WRONG!!

SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!!

Day 19 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray that when those representing Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups see volunteers for 40 Days for Life, they see ambassadors of Christ, and may each volunteer be consciously aware at all times of Whom we represent.

Scripture:

I...beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness, and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.

-- Ephesians 4:1b-2

Reflection:

When Carol Everett, a former abortionist and post-abortive woman, was asked what turned her heart from death to life in Christ, she said, "It was unconditional love," shown by a man who prayed daily for her in front of the abortion clinic where she worked.

He told Carol that "God had sent him" because there was someone in there that God wanted out. She left 27 days later and now serves as Christ's ambassador to help others. We too have been sent by Christ as an ambassador to love unconditionally those God seeks to "get out" of their bondage and sin. What a high calling it is -- much higher than any presidential appointment to another country.

In his book, Fishers of Men, Dr. Sumner Wemp describes what it means to be an ambassador of Christ, the King of Kings:

God has chosen us (John 15:16)
We are sent into a world that is not our home (1 Peter 2:11)
Our walk must match our talk (1 Timothy 3:7)
We must abide in Him for daily instruction (John 15:5)
Know our purpose -- to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10)
We are to reconcile others to God with His authority (Matthew 28:19-20)
Do not let kindness and truth leave you (Proverbs 3:3-4)
Our service is to be grounded and rooted in love (Ephesians 3:17)
Pray that we each will walk worthy of the calling with which we were called!

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we are humbled that you have called us and appointed us to be ambassadors of Christ in a world that is not our home. We pray that your Holy Spirit will empower us to walk worthy of the calling. We pray that Your unconditional love will flow through us onto those who desperately need Your saving grace. In the name of Christ who is worthy, amen.

Carmen Pate Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

40 Days For Life