Uniting Our Cross to His

J.M.J.+
I am emailing in regards to this Saturday’s peaceful prayer vigil on the 8th of March which will take place outside Planned Parenthood (345 Whitney Avenue New Haven) from 8am until 12 pm noon, the hours which the babies are scheduled to be killed by abortion.

We frequently hear the expression “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke

How very often this statement applies to our lives and those who are closest to us. In bad situations we often do not want to draw attention to ourselves by confronting a friend or family member we may know is in trouble or need because we may feel others think it is simply none of our business. How often we commit sins of omission because we are afraid to stand up for what we know is right, good, and true, what we know in our heart God would want us to do. Often it is not easy to do the right thing and many times we will be ostracized or persecuted by those who may not yet have accepted Jesus as the Truth, the Way, and the Life. However we know regardless of what opposition we face in order to truly love Christ we must take up our Cross and follow Him no matter where that may lead us, even if that takes us to the sidewalk of the abortion mill. When we come out to pray at Planned Parenthood we are truly being a disciple of Jesus, for we know it is there where our crosses become united to His.
May God bless you,
Mike and Kerry


Today's devotional is by Father Frank Pavone, the
national director of Priests for Life...sent to me by the 40 Days For Life Campaign
http://www.40daysforlife.com/norwich

Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow
me cannot be my disciple.

--Luke 14:27

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REFLECTION
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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.

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PRAYER
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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.