"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." (Sir Winston Churchill)
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
--Revelation 21:4-5
As pro-life warriors, we must keep our eyes fixed on heaven, and our hearts secure in the hope that the day is coming when all evil will be conquered. It is the future that shapes the present; it is victory that informs the battle; it is the destination that determines the journey...
Leah Chen is a 20-year-old with a mission. The full-time college student and part-time teller is also the local director of the 40 Days for Life Campaign which is making an area abortion clinic a focus of its prayers...
We have reason to rejoice when we consider the many babies whose lives have been saved during the 40 Days for Life campaign. Add to those lives, the women and men who have been spared from a devastating decision and now have opportunity to make a plan for their baby that is both life affirming and God honoring.
"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'!"
Norma McCorvey (the former Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade) used to work at an abortion mill named "A Choice for Women." She now realizes what a cruel irony that title was. She saw first hand, just as pregnancy resource center counselors see, that women don't get abortions because of freedom of choice, but rather because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. They feel trapped, abandoned, desperate and afraid, and have been led to believe that abortion is their only option.
“I am a 60-year-old woman who had four abortions when I was a young woman — spiritually and emotionally lost,” she wrote.
“Since I returned to church in 1992, I have experienced Christ’s mercy and healing more powerfully than words can express. He is my treasure. He is the meaning and purpose of my life.”
She adds that she’s praying daily — and she’s fasting from coffee!
“I cry with joy for the babies saved and the minds and hearts changed,” she wrote. “May He continue to bless the babies, mothers and others through your beautiful commitment!”
While a 40 Days for Life volunteer was praying with her daughter at the vigil in La Puente, a young mom came by “with the most gorgeous baby,” according to the volunteer. The woman told the volunteer that prior to the child’s arrival she had an abortion.
“It took me eight years wanting another child,” she said. “But I wasn’t able to conceive. Then one day, I passed by the abortion clinic and noticed the 40 Days for Life campaign. I told my elder sons, ‘We’re going to pray.’ A few months later, I was expecting my third child.”
The young mom’s family would tell her, “Be quiet! You can never talk about your abortion!” But now, she says, “After eight years I will no longer keep quiet. Although I didn’t save my baby, I can help save the lives of babies to come.”
"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow."
The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne
One of the 247 locations where 40 Days for Life is taking place right now is in the nation of Georgia — a place with a long, sad history regarding abortion.
Here are some of the things that Carolyn, the local coordinator, has told us about this first-time campaign …
...He has a perfect plan for each woman and her child if only she will allow Christ to transform her life as she surrenders to Him. No, an unexpected pregnancy is not the end of life, but rather can be the beginning of two beautiful lives if God's plan for them is given opportunity to unfold...
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.
Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, made us alive together with Christ; by grace you have been saved."
Because of God's mercy and grace towards us, we who receive Him receive eternal Hope. Those who curse you, hate you, spitefully mistreat you and persecute you need that same Hope. That is the only way we can ever expect them to behave differently. Ask the Holy Spirit to love them -- through you -- so they are drawn to the Hope that is in you, that is Christ Jesus.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live (h/t Durham Catholic Society)
Father of mercy and grace, we thank you for the gift of our children. Grant that every fiber of our being may rejoice when a new baby, our own or any else's, is born into the world. Help us to welcome them as we would welcome you, for whenever a new baby is conceived, another life to bear your image and another voice to praise and worship you, is beginning. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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?
.."We knew that, when people went out and peacefully prayed in front of these clinics, moms would choose life. We trusted that, we hoped for that and certainly, it’s been a blessing to see that.
One thing that has been out of the middle of nowhere has been the 43 abortion clinic workers who have […] had conversions and quit their jobs. Many of them have actually prayed on our side of the fence […] in front of the abortion facilities that they were working.."
"Today is Terri’s Day — the 6th anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, who died after nutrition and hydration were cut off, against the wishes of her family.
It’s a day to recall her story, and to pray that all would recognize the value and dignity of all human life.
Today’s devotional certainly fits; we are all 'fearfully and wonderfully made' — from the child in the womb to those nearing the end of this life — and anyone society deems inconvenient."
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.
The question of "being" is something philosophers have long pondered. What is the meaning of being and what is the source? ... We have being because we are known by God.
...Former Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk on Sunday told about 200 people gathered for a pro-life rally in Kettering that it’s important to maintain respect for all kinds of life, not just the unborn child.
“If there is no life, there is nothing. There is no hope, there is no joy, there is no outreach into the world,” said Pilarczyk, 76, who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati from 1982 through 2009.
He led a praying of the rosary before speaking at the event outside the Women’s Med Center, 1401 E. Stroop Road. The event marked a midpoint of the Dayton 40 Days for Life campaign, which features prayer, peaceful vigil at abortion facilities and educational outreach as part of a national program.
Pilarcyzk said afterward that he supports Ohio House Bill 125, known as the “heartbeat bill,” which would outlaw abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be medically detected, generally about six or seven weeks.
“Anything that limits the destruction of life, I’m for,” he said.
Mary Britt, a member of the local 40 Days for Life committee, said “all of the country is watching” Ohio...
