Day 18 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

May we absorb the truth that God is paying attention to us, and to each human life, personally and individually.

Scripture:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

-- Psalm 8:3-9

Reflection:

How often we ignore the phrase, "stop and smell the roses" and instead submit to the all too "urgent" task at hand. Is this tendency what keeps us, at least in part, from acknowledging that God's care for His sacred creation is paramount in His own mind?

The Psalmist speaks of God's handiwork: the heavens, the work of his "fingers," and then points to God's masterpiece - human life. He declares to us that God is mindful of us. God keeps His masterpiece in His thoughts.

God, the creator of the awe-inspiring heavens, is not distracted by the tasks before Him. He is not pulled away, as we might be, by thoughts of something "more important." God is paying attention to and attending to His crowning glory, His masterpiece of creation, which cannot be duplicated or replaced, which surpasses the beauty of all other created things - the human being.

There is no way to adequately describe how God feels about us as human beings. There are no words to fully portray His love, compassion or desire to be in communion with us. Perhaps, the closest we can come, is to contemplate the thoughts of a mother as she gazes for the first time at her newborn child. God cares for Life. We, as His followers, should take time to consider the life He has created and called upon us to love and protect.

Prayer:

Lord, you are the creator of all things. Guide my thoughts to consider your creation in all of its majesty, beauty and holiness. Guide my heart especially to your creation of precious human life. Help me to comprehend how essential life is in your own heart. Teach me to appreciate, love and protect all human life through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr. Terry Gensemer
National Director, Charismatic Episcopal Church for Life

40 Days For Life

'Umbert The Unborn"

Gary Cangemi is the creator of a delightful comic called "Umbert The Unborn", which is carried by the National Catholic Register.

Today's comic has some advice relevant to Catholics everywhere...'don't listen to your left hand!'

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

"Mothers, Don't Let Your Kids Grow Up To Be.." IRISH

Seriously. Notre Dame University, in spite of the 'Fighting Irish' legacy, is giving the Irish a bad name. No longer do we have images of Irish monks pulling Europe up out of the dark ages. Thanks to the persistent corruption of Catholic image perpetrated by faculty and administration at Notre Dame, now even the student newspaper is a tool of the 'New Mediocrity' .

Why do parents still pay so much to put their Catholic children in a place where they have to search for authentic Catholicism? Don't they feel cheated? Shouldn't they be getting full-fledged , administration supported, Magisterium loyal, intellectually honest, Truth with a capital 'T' education for their kids?

A football team is not enough. 'Irish' is not enough. The memory of holy priests and professors is not enough.

America has better.


*Note: I do know there are some very faithful alumni,faculty and students at Notre Dame. I know that a Catholic student can maintain their faith in any environment, no matter how insidious the corruption, under the name of 'Catholic'. Perhaps the 'Fighting Irish' will take on an entirely new meaning with the struggle to reform Our Lady's university.

Day 16 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

May the mystery of the Incarnation increase our zeal for defending life.

Scripture:

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

-- Luke 1:30-33

Reflection:

"God has assumed Humanity, joining it with Divinity, and kindled in men's hearts new love of me." These words were written by a Roman poet in the Fourth Century. He spent his life finding ways to express the greatest mystery of the world: the incarnation, in which God became man.

Often the womb has been referred to as the "first home of the whole human race." It is the place where life begins, where our stories start. In the womb the great men and women of history began their magnificent march through life. In the womb Divinity met humanity, and God the Son was born into the world. As one of the Fathers of the early church, St. Leo the Great, declared, "Within her spotless womb Wisdom built itself a house and the Word became flesh."

Recently, I was at the hospital for the birth of my fourth grandchild. Looking through the nursery window at the rows of newly born babies, I began to think of the great stories that would be written about these tiny lives. During his visitation with the Virgin Mary, the angel prophesied to Mary about the life of her child. Here in this hospital, I pondered, what would he say about each of these? Would they meet the one who also came from His mother's womb to redeem the world and kindle our hearts afresh for God? I thanked God for each baby alive and prayed for each story yet to be written.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you have made the womb of each woman a very special place. Help us to hold fast to the sanctity of this first home of humanity, remembering the wonderful mystery, that God inhabited the womb of a young woman and came forth as the savior and deliverer of the world. We ask this in the Name of the one who came forth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life

Day 15 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray that we will not become defeated by the enemy's attacks but rather call on the name of the Lord who is on our side and our help in time of trouble.

Scripture:

What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

-- Psalm 124:2,3,6,8

Reflection:

The enemy attacks in many ways, but one of his favorites is to slander us with hopes of tarnishing our reputation and character, and ultimately to defeat our good work for the Lord. It is interesting to note however that it is usually not the slander that causes harm to our testimony, but our response to the slander. Proverbs 24:10 says, "If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small."

So if we are applying God's truths to our lives moment by moment, we are not swayed by the lies of the enemy and we will be strong.

Standing on the front lines, armed with God's truth, places you in the battlefield for the mind. As you are prepared to present words of love, for the sake of the unborn and for the distraught and confused women and men who are entering the abortion facilities, know that the enemy has prepared his forces to attack your mind.

Unkind words from a protester, or vicious lies in the local paper about who you are and what your mission is, can indeed be hurtful. But rather than give in to defeat, that is the time to shine for the Lord, standing firm, as you call on Him to defeat the enemy.

Remember the words of Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Let's stand strong for those who need us most.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help us to ignore the verbal attacks of the enemy and instead turn to You, our refuge and strength. Help us to find shelter in the blessed promises and provisions of Your Word. Thank you that no enemy can defeat us, and we praise You knowing that nothing can separate us from Your love. In the name of Jesus, we come to You, amen.

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

40 Days For Life

Day 14 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray that we will have faith to realize that even now our Lord can bring an end to abortion.

Scripture:

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

-- John 11:17-22

Reflection:

Martha was right. Jesus is Lord of life and death. She knew that, which is why she was able to make this statement, yet at the same time she had to wrestle with the fact that Lazarus died anyway. Jesus indeed is Lord over life and death, but here the power of death was still displayed right in front of her.

Yet in this clash between the conviction of faith and the evidence of human experience, Martha allowed hope to shine through. "Even now, God will give you whatever you ask." Even now. Those words show the power of hope, born of faith. Even now, when death has already done its work, life can be victorious.

Even now, when the last word seems to have been spoken, we can hope that a word will be spoken again to restore life. Even now, when Lazarus has already been laid in the tomb and it seems impossible to do anything about it, things can change. And things did change. The Lord raised Lazarus from the dead.

We live in a society where many believe the abortion issue has been settled, and its practice so deeply ingrained in our policies and attitudes that it is unrealistic to think we can stop it. Yet we are the people who say to Jesus, "Even now..."

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, even now, you are master of life and death. I come before you as Martha did after Lazarus has died. I come before you after countless brothers and sisters of mine have died from abortion. And I pray to you: even now, you can stop the forces of death. Even now, you can bring us into a culture of life. Come, Lord Jesus. Speak your word yet again, and free our nation from the shackles of death. Amen.

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

40 Days For Life

Don't Fund CCHD - Fund PRO-Life!

Catholic Bishops Urged to Take Collection for Pro-Life Work After Abortion Dustup

After a months-long dustup involving Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) grants to pro-abortion organizations, a pro-life group is urging the nations Catholic bishops to consider putting together a national day in January to take a collection at churches for pro-life activities.

Several pro-life groups in a coalition have been monitoring CCHD grants and have caused some organizations to be de-funded as a result of their exposing their pro-abortion positions.

Now, Catholic Advocate is calling on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to launch a National Collection for Life on the weekend prior to the national March for Life.

"Creating a National Collection for Life will allow American Catholics to tangibly demonstrate the importance of building a culture of life in our society," Catholic Advocate vice president Matt Smith told LifeNews.com. "A consistent source of funds to national pro-life activities will open opportunities to promote the sanctity of life at all stages."

Catholic Advocate recommends proceeds from the collection be used to support the programs of the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities. The group says it will put together more specific proposals for the collections for the bishops as January 2011 approaches.

Catholic Advocate president Deal Hudson says the money would be spent well if it goes to support local pro-life efforts in communities across the country....

(h/t The Eponymous Flower)

Calling Out The NYT

Mi Causa, Su Causa: a Latina Looks at the N.Y. Times Abortion Debate:

Caramba!

This phrase, in the New York Times article, about pro-life advocates encouraging greater black participation in the right-to-life cause and taking on the legacy of Margaret Sanger, got my attention: “ … the anti-abortion movement, long viewed as almost exclusively white and Republican … ”

Viewed by whom? The mostly melanin-challenged, liberal editorial board of the New York Times? Yeah, right.

First, two words to all of you icky white, colorblind Republicans who have been déclassé enough to take a stand against the assassination of voiceless unborn children throughout the years: Thank you. You are doing the Lord’s work. Keep it up!...

and at Big Journalism

Day 13 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

We pray for the strength to love those who do not love us.

Scripture:

But the Lord said "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in the night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

-- Jonah 4:10-11

Reflection:

God doesn't value people and things like we do. Jonah loved a shade tree more than an entire city of sinful people. We love our dogs more than a terrorist. We love our cars more than a beggar on the side of the road. And sometimes, we love our money more than a child growing in a desperate teenager's womb.

But God isn't like us. Genesis 1 tells us that humans were the capstone of God's creation. We were created on the sixth day after God had completed the land, the stars, the plants and the animals. Therefore, His love for us is greater than His love for a plant, an animal, or any other created thing. And the book of Jonah tells us that He loves even the most sinful people and seeks to bring them into His merciful arms. And it's a love that seeks to touch all of his created children: that desperate teenager, the baby growing in her womb, even tyrants and terrorists. So it's up to us to imitate God's merciful love by helping and praying for those who persecute us, and those who don't love us back.

Prayer:

Gracious God, loving our enemies seems like one of most difficult things you could ask of us. Please remind us that this is how you love and that if you ask it of us then you will give us the grace to do it. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dennis DiMauro
Lutherans for Life representative to the National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life

Help Haiti - Cont'd

Here are some pictures of the Missionaries of the Poor in Cap-Haitien, tending to the needs of the refugees from Port Au Prince...

History of the Mission in Cap-Haitien

Pro-Life Implications of the Haiti Disaster (the Interim)

Long Haul For Haiti (NCRegister)

HELP MOP

Raffaello

The Transfiguration

Raffaello Sanzio
(Urbino 1483 - Rome 1520)
The Transfiguration, 1516- 1520
"tempera grassa" on wood
cm. 410 x 279
cat. 40333

Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (the future pope Clement VII) commissioned two paintings for the cathedral of S. Giusto of Narbonne, the city of which he had become bishop in 1515. The Transfiguration was entrusted to Raphael, and the Raising of Lazarus (now in the National Gallery of London) to Sebastiano del Piombo. The Transfiguration was not sent to France because after Raphael's death (1520), the cardinal kept it for himself, subsequently donating it to the church of S. Pietro in Montorio where it was placed over the high altar. In 1797, following the Treaty of Tolentino, this work, like many others, was taken to Paris and returned in 1816, after the fall of Napoleon. It was then that it became part of the Pinacoteca of Pius VII (pontiff from 1800 to 1823).
The altarpiece illustrates two episodes narrated in succession in the Gospel according to Matthew: the Transfiguration above, with Christ in glory between the prophets Moses and Elijah, and below, in the foreground, the meeting of the Apostles with the obsessed youth who will be miraculously cured by Christ on his return from Mount Tabor.
This is Raphael's last painting and appears as the spiritual testament of the artist. The work is considered in his biography, written by the famous artist and biographer of the 16th century, Giorgio Vasari, "the most famous, the most beautiful and most divine".
(Vatican Museum)

Reflections For Second Sunday of Lent

From Archbishop Terrence Prendergast :

Here are some reflections on the readings for this Second Sunday of Lent, which always features the Lord's Transfiguration to strengthen his followers in their journey of inner renewal during this holy season:

"HE WILL TRANSFORM THE BODY OF OUR HUMILIATION" [Texts: Genesis 15:5-12,17-18 (Psalm 27); Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36]

What to make of the mystery of the Transfiguration? This remains a puzzle in New Testament research and in Christian spirituality.

Some scholars detect in the Transfiguration story features found in the Resurrection appearances breaking into the public ministry of Jesus (e.g., white garments, the shining of the garments, fear).

In the post-Easter narratives, however, an angel or Jesus generally gives specific individuals a commission to proclaim the Resurrection. By contrast, after the Transfiguration, a command to silence is given the disciples by Jesus in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. Luke simply observes that 'the disciples kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen'....

Day 12 - 40 Days For Life

Intention:

Pray to God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to end abortion in America.

Scripture:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

-- Ephesians 3:20-21

Reflection:

God's power working in and through His people is unlimited and far beyond our comprehension when we submit to God's Word and Spirit. He receives glory when we are obedient to His calling and faithfully serve Him in His strength.

Consider God's hand of providence on this nation because of the faithfulness of a few who were totally committed to God and His truths. It is interesting to note the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: "Yours is the one great nation in all history which was founded on the precept of equal rights and respect for all humankind, for the poorest and weakest of us as well as the richest and strongest."

Mother Teresa, in addressing the Supreme Court of the United States said, "Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. I have no new teaching for America. I seek only to recall you to faithfulness to what you once taught the world. Your nation was founded on the proposition very old as a moral precept, but startling and innovative as a political insight that human life is a gift of immeasurable worth, and that it deserves, always and everywhere, to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect."

It is time to restore that dignity and respect. Our God is able. Are we willing to remain faithful until His work through us is done?

Prayer:

God Almighty, Who is powerful and willing to supply, our hearts cry in unison for You to restore dignity and respect to human life, not only in America, but around the world. Lord, may our hearts remain faithful to your calling, and may You begin Your transforming work with me. Keep me ever mindful that with You Lord, nothing is impossible; without You, I can do nothing. To You be glory forever and ever, Amen.

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

40 Days For Life