Dear Mike,
One of the questions we hear often is, "Why do we
need to pray at the abortion clinic when it's
closed?" There are several answers, but the part I'll
focus on today is this ...
... You never know what God has in store!
Brian was praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil in
Hackensack, New Jersey around 6 one morning -- before
the abortion facility opened. A couple got out of a
taxi and walked towards the building and waited.
Brian spoke to them, and they were still waiting when
he had to leave. A short time later, a group of
friars arrived to pray. The clinic was still locked
tight. The couple, however, had left. Brian hopes
they called another cab and simply went back home.
To see some of the faithful people praying at the
abortion center in Hackensack, including some of the
friars who are frequently present at the vigil,
please visit:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=349
Beth in Phoenix knows of babies saved from abortion
because people were praying at the 40 Days for Life
vigil while the clinic was closed.
Women often arrive at the abortion facility without
realizing it is not open every day. Beth said that's
why it is important to be there praying every day of
the 40 Days for Life campaign –- including the times
the center is closed.
Christine and three friends were praying at the
vigil, and the place was deserted. After a while,
they noticed that two young women had arrived. They
tried to open the clinic door, and it was locked.
The women went back to their car and sat for about
five minutes. Christine walked over and handed them a
flyer with information about pregnancy resource
centers. "They were very grateful," she said.
Beth and James spent time praying at Planned
Parenthood in Phoenix when the facility was closed.
"We were the only ones there," said James, "just
praying quietly by ourselves."
Two teenage girls walked by, and James asked if they
knew the building was an abortion center. But they
just kept walking. A few minutes later, however, the
girls came back.
"One of them started by asking us if we were going to
adopt and raise the babies we were trying to save
from abortion, and saying how awful the foster care
system is for kids," he said. "It was clear they came
back just to challenge us."
Right about that time, a man walked up and offered
cold drinks to Beth and James (this is Phoenix, and
it's still very hot there). The man had heard the
conversation, and began to tell the girls that he had
been born in a home for unwed mothers and was
adopted. That opened the way for further discussion,
and this time the girls were all ears.
"These two girls listened to everything we, and the
gentleman, had to say," said James. "They said they
respected us and what we were doing and believed; you
could see their whole outlook had changed."
As the girls walked away, James and Beth "knew why
the Lord had brought us out there at that time, on a
day when there was no real compelling reason to be
there, except for obedience; for two girls to whom we
could have easily not reached out, except for a
still, small voice."
Here's today's devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone,
National Director of Priests for Life...
-----------------------------------------------------
DAY 17 INTENTION
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May all understand more deeply that the pro-life
message is rooted in the two basic truths of life:
There is a God;
He isn't me
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
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And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living being.
-- Genesis 2:7
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
-----------------------------------------------------
From the beginning of the Bible until the end, the
theme is echoed that God alone has dominion over
human life. He made it; shared it; died to save it;
will raise it up forever.
The act of creation described in Genesis 2:7, and
earlier in Genesis 1:26-27, is a sovereign act. God
did not have to do it, and would have been happy
forever without us.
Yet without our asking for it or earning it, God
brought us out of nothingness and into life, and
sustains our existence at every moment. And He does
so in Christ. "For by Him all things were
created...in
Him all things exist" (Colossians 1:16-17).
"You are not your own," Paul declares in 1
Corinthians 6. God alone owns us. While He entrusts
us to the care of one another, He does not allow any
human being to own another.
A Southern California abortionist, James McMahon,
once explained how he justified killing children
after 20 weeks gestation by partial-birth abortion.
He did not deny that this was a child, but rather
asked, "Who owns the child? It's got to be the
mother."
The struggle over abortion is really a struggle over
the dominion of God. The Christian individual, and
the Christian Church, cannot sit idly by when others
declare that God is not God.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------
Lord, we are yours. Thank you for breathing into us
the breath of life. Thank you for claiming us as your
own. May our words and actions in defense of human
life proclaim to all the world that you alone are
Lord of life and death, Lord of our freedom and of
our choices. We pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
-----------------------------------------------------
To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day17print.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------
For Life,
David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life
P.S.- Thanks to the thousands of you who have flooded
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's office with calls and
faxes, asking him to VETO the unconstitutional "bubble
zone" ordinance that is trying to silence pro-life
free speech at 40 Days for Life vigils! If you haven't
yet, please call his office at 312-744-3300 between
8 AM and 5 PM Central time and ask him to protect free
speech and VETO the bubble zone law!
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