Intention:
We pray for the grace to be strong when others ridicule or oppose us.
Scripture:
Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
--Luke 14:27
Reflection:
To stand up for what is right means we stand against what is wrong, and that means that those who love what is wrong will oppose us, just as they opposed Christ. Taking up the cross means we continue speaking and standing for the right even when that opposition comes.
We experience this, in particular, when we are out on the streets, where people are not expecting the pro-life message and where they did not go to hear it.
We must remember to never take the opposition personally. When people ridicule or yell at us, we might get a guilty feeling or be tempted to think we did something wrong. We did not. The insults are not being hurled at us personally, but rather at the truth of what we are standing for, and at the demands of the moral law.
There are many who are trying to run away from those demands, or who have managed to tuck the abortion problem away into a distant corner of their minds where it can no longer disturb them. By standing publicly for the cause of life, we have short-circuited that denial and frustrated those efforts to ignore the issue. Therefore, some will be angry, perhaps not fully realizing why.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for the grace of being pro-life, and of standing strong when others may ridicule or oppose me. During this 40 Day campaign, may your peace fill my soul, especially when I may endure the opposition of others, and may I become more like your crucified and risen Son. Amen.
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council
40 Days For Life
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