J.M.J+
Dear Fellow Helpers,
I am posting in regards to our next peaceful prayer vigil which will take place on Saturday, the 31st of January, 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. Please join us and take an hour of prayer. Abortions also take place on Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings form 8-12 noon. If you feel compelled please bring a prayer partner and offer your prayers and fasting then.
I have spoken to many people who are feeling just downright defeated with new President Obama in office. On the political horizon let’s face it, things are not looking good for the Unborn and we very well may be faced with one of the most pro-abortion and pro-death leaders we have ever seen. What are we to do I have been asked over and over by others and in my own mind?
At first glance it is true things are not looking good for the Unborn. With Obama’s rescind of the Mexico City policy and his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice act I think many pro-lifers are thinking of throwing the towel in when it comes to any chance that our Culture of Death will be enlightened to one of Life. However we must not forget that God is in control. He is in control of all of this, He always has been and He always will be. Why He does things the way He does we will not understand, but we should make no mistake in believing He can turn this Political nightmare into a glorious rejuvenation of the pro-life movement.
It seems now more than ever, God is seeking us to do His work on a personal and prayerful level. Could it be His plan is aimed at reducing apathy of His people where the killing takes place? Perhaps He is leaving us little choice to allow others to do our christianly duty. Is it possible he is reinforcing for us what we have always known… that this battle is a spiritual one that can only be won through prayer and fasting?
When one comes to truly understand the horror of what is happening in these innocuous looking buildings in our own neighborhoods, where babies are killed, it becomes imperative to do whatever we can to try to humanely stop it…protesting, lobbying, petitioning, even educating the public, however none of these take the place of being present at the killing scene. Prayer and witness where the killing takes place is what God is calling us to do all the more. Don’t you think?
We have tried everything and it seems God has taken everything away from us…except for fasting, witness and prayer at the scene. It makes one wonder…Is He is trying to tell us something? And I am ready to listen?
I came across an excerpt from a speech Monsignor Reilly gave as a part of a Defend Life series at Loyola College. I feel it so much speaks to us today in the world we are facing when the enemy to Obama in office has become the unborn child. Please read it and prayerfully consider what God is asking of you as we face this New Year under the leadership of President Obama.
May God bless you,
Mike and Kerry
Today it is hard to understand that our culture is radically different from what it was a short time ago. It is hard to understand that you cannot simply go along with the tide--that you have become part of the counter-culture and that, like Thomas More, you will be persecuted for standing up for the truth.
The Holy Father says, in the encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, that there is a clear, grave moral obligation to oppose the abortion/death culture. You cannot compromise your position, even if it is at great cost to you; you have to make a choice to be clearly, totally pro-life.
At this point, it's absolutely clear to all that with abortion, we are killing human beings.
When there is no outrage that we have killed 32 million babies since Roe v. Wade, no outrage when the method of partial birth abortion is described and discussed, this tells you that we are not only into the culture of death, we are buying it.
What was the effect on young people when Norma McCorvey, the Roe of Roe v. Wade, came over to the pro-life side? Nothing. Young people don't know who she is, and they don't care. They've grown up with a culture of death. It's a way of solving their problems.
Who will change it? How will we bring about a culture of life?
I've tried all the different methods--withholding my taxes, rescuing, protesting; I went to the first March on Washington, in 1974. There were 5,000 protesters then. Over the years, the number grew to
But there has been a great sense of frustration in the pro-life ranks. With the March on Washington, for example, the media always lied about the number of protesters. When we went to lobby the representatives, the ones you needed to see wouldn't be in their office that day.
We tried everything. We got to a point where we said, let's try God.
The Holy Father said, you're not dealing with flesh and blood, you're dealing with principalities and powers, and to think you're going to be able to overcome this simply by human techniques is foolish. Prayer and fasting alone will be the ultimate instruments of winning this battle.
In the pro-life movement there is need for long-range programs such as education and lobbying to change legislation.
But you will lose credibility if nobody is present at the spot where lives are being taken, because this is war, and no prisoners are being taken. The victims do not have faces you can put on TV. They depend totally on others to stand up for them.
Some people in the pro-life movement must go to this new Calvary, where innocent blood is being shed.
The blood of Christ is not a sign of death. It is a source of ultimate victory for those in the pro-life movement. Without it and the intercession of the Mother of God, this victory can't be won.
Operation Rescue went to the abortion clinics, but their approach became confrontational.
But the war is over. You're not in the front lines; get that out of your head. We lost the war; you are behind enemy lines. When you're behind enemy lines, in occupied territory, you have to fight differently.
If you go there and say, 'Babies are being killed, we've got to get them out!' they're going to take you away. You are not going to the clinics to save the physical life of the baby; you're going there for the conversion of the abortionist, the mother, the people going in.
A lot of pro-lifers who go to clinics are like Peter, ready to take out a sword and lop off a few ears. Jesus said, put away the sword. He shows us we must be there with the long-suffering and patience of Christ.
When you are present at Calvary, you have to be there beside Mary and John at the foot of the cross. You don't say anything nasty to the people who work there, you don't call them names, you don't intimidate.
You be there in a prayerful, loving, compassionate presence, and you will be amazed at what happens to the personnel and people going in. The more peaceful and prayerful you are, the more God takes over.
When you go and you do this in the Lord, you are never there unsuccessfully. Your presence and your prayers may touch that mother's heart, maybe not today, maybe not five years from now--maybe 20 years from now.
Nothing done in the Lord is ever done in vain, united in the blood of Christ and done for the reason of conversion.
You are called at this moment in history to be the salt of the earth, to be light. For one reason or another, you know know more than others.
Maybe centuries from now, people will look back at you and say, my God, you were marvelous people!
When the world was going into darkness--and it is--you kept the light burning.
Go and do it. Thousands of people are doing it--because it's God's work.
The Eucharist
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