Tag Archives: Inspiration

Day 38 – November 2, 2012

Sandy’s Silver Lining?

Hurricane Sandy left such devastation along the Eastern seaboard that it is hard to imagine how one could think there could ever be a silver lining.  But the news is that because of Hurricane Sandy, there were no abortions in Germantown again this week!  Dr. Carhart was unable to travel in from the mid west to his Maryland abortion clinic due to the weather.  That makes two weeks in a row now that there were no abortions in Germantown, which is wonderful and amazing all at the same time. 

While it’s great to rejoice in the fact that no abortions were performed in Germantown this week, let’s not forget to continue praying for the folks in New Jersey and New York who continue to suffer because of the storm.  People are starting to run out food and water and it is cold outside and getting colder inside.  The Salvation Army and the America Red Cross  are two organizations that are working hard to help bring disaster relief  to this part of the country.

I’d like to share a reflection by Father Frank Pavone from today’s 40 Days for Life campaign:

INTENTION
Pray that we become vessels of hope to all around us,
especially to those who minister in the pro-life
movement.

SCRIPTURE

On the first day of the week, very early in the
morning, the women took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled
away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did
not find the body of the Lord Jesus. “Why do you look
for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has
risen!”

— Luke 24:1-5

REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone

This meditation, based on a sermon I once heard, is
adapted for pro-life concerns.

It’s Friday. Jesus is on the cross. He has been
killed by his enemies; he is off the scene. But
that’s because it’s Friday. Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday. Abortionists continue their work 3,300
times a day, tearing off the arms and legs of little
babies and crushing their heads. But that’s because
it’s Friday. Sunday’s comin’! It’s Friday.
Pro-abortion groups receive blood money from
billionaires who are as deceived as they are. But
that’s because it’s Friday. Sunday’s comin’!

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’!

PRAYER

Lord, fill your people with new hope. Make us vessels
of hope to all around us, especially to those who
minister in the pro-life movement, that as we engage
in the difficult work ahead, we may experience the
peace and joy that come only from you and that nobody
can take away from us. We ask this through Christ our
Lord, Amen.

Day 37 – November 1, 2012

It’s a Romans 1 kind of world!  I’m praying this week for the pro-life counselors and for the Lord to shine through these courageous people as they meet the lie of the culture head on.  Pro-life counselors are faced with trying to show abortion minded women the truth and combat all of the lies that have been fed to women in our society by the likes of Planned Parenthood and even other people of faith who choose to believe their own truth.  In Romans chapter 1, in The Message it says:

“But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.”

These verses of scripture say a lot.  It says people know full well who God is and they know what is right and what is wrong and therefore they have no excuses.  However, the bottom line is that people decided they know it all and they know better than God.  They decided they could be God.  But hasn’t that been going on since the Garden?  Satan convinced Eve that the reason God did not want her to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden was because it would make her like Him, as if God were threatened by Eve becoming like Him.  What Eve did not realize was that she was already like God.  She was created in His image and likeness and this is what Satan has been trying destroy since that moment!

Please continue to pray for the courageous pro-life counselors who are fighting against the lies perpetuated by the abortion industry.  Please pray for the pro-life counselor who is faced with trying speak the truth to the abortion minded woman who believed the lie and traded the glory of God for a cheap figurine.

Day 35 – October 30, 2012

We are now in the final week of the 40 Days for Life Campaign around the world.  The campaign officially ends this Sunday, November 4, 2012.  The scheduling of prayer and vigil around the clock before abortion clinics will come to end for awhile, but the prayer to end abortion will never stop until an abortion-free nation becomes a reality.

This week, I want to focus my prayer on the counselors who work so diligently to show women the truth about their pregnancy and the truth about abortion.  But today, as I reflected on the woman who is potentially 5 months pregnant and seeking a late term abortion, I thought about adoption.  I guess I still do not understand how someone could have carried their child for five months and know that they will deliver their child in four months or less and yet they are still willing to kill that child.  This mother has felt her child kick and has watched the child grow as she has grown and certainly there is no way that she can deny she is carry a human life.  Why not finish out those last few months and allow the child a chance to live and fulfill a destiny.

There are many arguments that say that there are plenty of children in foster care who should be adopted first.  Well, you know what, that’s true.  But, what is also true is that those children are not being adopted for a variety of reasons.  According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, an organization of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in February of 2011 published an article on adoption trends.  This article stated that there were 115,000 children in foster care in 2011 but those seeking to adopt do not want children who are older, or who have a sibling, or who may have endured maltreatment.  Overwhelmingly, those who are seeking to adopt want a child who is 2 years old or younger and is a single child without any behavioral issues.  Interestingly, physical illnesses are not an impediment to adoption.  LiveAction published an article in May of 2012 in which they quoted a source known as the Business Library which said:  “there are up to 36 couples waiting for every one baby placed for adoption.” The quote goes on to say:

 “In the USA, there are approximately two million infertile couples waiting to adopt, many times regardless of the child’s medical problems such as Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, HIV infection or terminally ill. Dr. Brad Imler, President of America’s Pregnancy Helpline, confirms the challenge of waiting couples by stating: “Only 1% of the Helpline’s annual 40,000 clients inquires about adoption.”

Pray this week for an increase in adoptions nationwide.  This is so much safer and healthier for everyone involved and the child has a chance.

References:

Brown, Kristi B.  Abortion vs. Adoption: Why So Many Choose the First and What We Can Do. May 15, 2012. Retrieved on October 30, 2012.  http://liveactionnews.org/culture/abortion-vs-adoption-why-so-many-choose-the-first-and-what-we-can-do/

Child Welfare Information Gateway.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Persons Seeking to Adopt – Numbers and Trends.  February 2011.  Retrieved on October 30, 2012 http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/s_seek.pdf#Page=2&view=Fit

Day 28 – October 23, 2012

For Such A Time As This

Spiritual warfare can take on many forms.  Sometimes we march around the city in order to see the walls fall down and sometimes it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with an ear that is close to the heart of God.  Such was the case with Esther.  She literally found herself in the right place at the right time to make an enormous difference in the lives of her people in a foreign land.  Had it not been for her uncle’s willingness to sit at the gate of the King to make sure that he was fully aware of all that was going on in the kingdom and Esther’s willingness and courage to stand up for those who had no voice, the Jewish people may have been annihilated.

The book of Esther indicates that she could have chosen to do nothing to help her people, but her uncle warns her that just because she is the queen does not mean that she will escape the fate of the Jewish people that is coming.  But, instead, he presents her with the idea that she may have been placed in this position precisely because she was meant to do something about the situation that was coming.  I imagine this was a very difficult decision for Esther, one that took a great deal of courage.  In short, her life was on the line here.  For Esther to act on her uncle’s request meant that she had approach the king without being summoned by him.  If he happened to be in a particularly bad mood the day she decided to go and speak with him, she may very well have been the first Jewish person executed in that kingdom.  But Esther went to prayer – she fasted and prayed for three days before deciding on how to approach the king and God heard her prayer!

The story of Esther is a wonderful picture of how God answers prayer and shows us how the battle belongs to the Lord.  The battle is not won through human strategies but in the place of prayer and fasting and by employing God’s strategies.  In the fight against abortion, we have to be careful to always seek to obtain God’s strategy for each battle.  We each need to ask ourselves what the Lord would have us do in this fight – what is our place in His army?  Like Esther, we may find ourselves in unusual situations with regard to either speaking out on behalf of the unborn or protesting on behalf of the unborn, or even being willing to be arrested on behalf of the unborn.  Whatever the Lord asks us to do, we need to have the faith that He has equipped us to accomplish the task.  Let us always remember the words of the book of Esther that say “yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Day 27 – October 22, 2012

” Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.”  And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.  The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!” (Joshua 6:6-7, 16)

Today is Monday and the start of a new week of prayer and a new focus on a prayer for me at the Germantown clinic.  I have sensed from the Lord that I should continue to use the Rosary as a means of prayer but to add to the intention this week spiritual warfare.  I will look at five events in scripture that speak of spiritual warfare, the first of which is the falling of the city of Jericho.  At the end of Joshua chapter 5, Joshua has an encounter the Commander of the Army of the Lord, where Joshua falls on his face and  is told to remove his sandals because he is on holy ground.  This is all we know about this encounter but obviously the Commander instructed Joshua to take the city of Jericho because in the next chapter Lord says that He has given the city of Jericho into the hands of Joshua along with its king and fighting men.  The Lord proceeds to give him instructions on how to take the city.  It all looks a little strange when you first read the account of the fall of Jericho.  March around the city once a day for six days behind the ark of covenant, blowing trumpets the whole time.  Do not raise a battle cry, don’t say anything until you’re told to.  Then on day seven, march around the city seven times, blowing the trumpets, circling the city, but now on the seventh time, they are commanded to SHOUT!!  The Lord has given them the city!

That story has always excited me because it is completely the opposite of what one might think of doing when it comes to a battle.  No fighting, no bloodshed, just obedience to the Lord.  In fact, it is the bloodshed that we are fighting against in this battle for the unborn.  In obedience to the Lord, the 40 Days for Life campaign is promoting peaceful, prayerful vigil outside of the abortion clinic in order to see an end to the bloodshed of abortion.  In fact, today on day 27 of the campaign, it has been reported that 341 lives have been saved through this unusual form of spiritual warfare.  Yet we are in a battle.  We are fighting for the life of the unborn child and for the life of the mother of the unborn child as well.

God’s ways are not our ways to be sure, but His ways are always the best ways!

Day 22 – October 17, 2012

I know I’ve mentioned this before, today, being Wednesday, is the day that the babies are delivered by dismemberment in Germantown and I was so grieved for the lives of these children today.  I have no idea how many children died in Germantown this week, but just one is too many.  This morning was very different for me, something I’m generally not used to doing.  The Lord had me keep a silent vigil this morning in honor of those who died today.  I didn’t pray anything this morning, I just was there in silence and after about a half an hour I decided to read the scripture.  I felt impressed to read the book of Habakkuk, which is probably not one of those books that is read so frequently or that one would just of think of reading as I did this morning.  But, as is so true with the Lord, it was the right book to read today.  The book only has three chapters, so it’s a quick read.  Habakkuk’s name means to wrestle with or embrace as in a particularly bothersome issue, i.e. ABORTION.  The prophet attempts to explore the issues of why God has allowed evil.

A study by Hampton Keathley at Bible.org does a good job of looking at the book of Habakkuk and explaining the idea of questioning God or wrestling with God over the evil and injustice seen in the world and why this okay to do.  But more than that, this book is about faithfulness.  It is about the faithfulness of God to redeem His people and bring justice where there is evil and it is about the rewards we receive for being a faithful people.   I must remember to remain faithful to that which God has called me and recognize His sovereignty.  I must also realize that the answers I want may not come when I want them or in the way I want.  It is important to remember that God does not condone evil and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!  By the end of the book Habakkuk was able to see this and proclaim praises to God.

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Day 21 – October 16, 2012

Some days just feel like they are  far more difficult than you think they should be and this morning was one of those mornings where prayer was very difficult.  I was not understanding at first why today just felt so hard.  I’m mean, I’ve had a few days, so far, where prayer seemed like more work than usual but today was different. Today, I felt almost stuck.  I felt as if I had been silenced.

About half way through the hour I came to some conclusions.  First, this week, I’m focusing my prayer on the women who have abortions and who’ve had them in the past.  But the main difference of course in Germantown is that you really only get one shot at seeing a woman change her mind.  If someone is not able to reach her on a Sunday in Germantown, before she goes into the clinic, then the damage is done and there is no going back, there is no changing your mind, this woman now has a dead baby in her womb for three days until it is delivered on Wednesday.  The second conclusion I came to this morning was that I was feeling completely hopeless.  Why was I there today, there was nothing that I could do to change the situation this week.  Today, I could really feel the atmosphere of death.  My heart just ached for these women though.  How many of them must have gone through this process and in doing so wished that they could change their minds?  How many women have suffered through those three days after their baby has received the fatal injection of  Digoxin hoping they weren’t carry a dead fetus in their womb?  I would dare say that many found themselves in that place over the years.

But what about that hopelessness I sensed today?  The Lord is gracious and He reminded me that He is victorious, that He is risen, and that He has conquered sin and death.  Is He saddened by all of this?  Yes, of course He is.  But everyday, I receive email reports that provide updates around the world from the various 40 days for life campaigns that encourage me when I read about the number of lives that are saved.  I’m encouraged every time I hear about even one woman who changes her mind, walks out of Carhart’s clinic, and instead walks across the parking lot to the office of Germantown Pregnancy Choices where she will find out about real help and real options that will save her life and the life of her baby.  I’m sure those moments also make the Lord happy.

As we persevere in this fight for the lives of the unborn “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

Day 17 – October 12, 2012

As the week draws to a close I continue to pray for the clinic worker at the Germantown clinic and especially pray for this new worker who began working there this week.  I pray that she will have the courage to stay away and not return to the clinic next week.  I pray that she will be influenced by the light of Christ, even after only one day in Germantown.  I believe that she can and was affected by His light.

Today I would like to share a devotional by Father Frank Pavone from Priests for Life

INTENTION

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

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

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.

Day 4 – September 29, 2012

Today is the 4th day of the 40 days for life campaign and the 4th days that I have been praying through the joyful mysteries of the rosary on behalf of the babies who are scheduled to be aborted at the Germantown clinic.  I continue to feel compelled to speak life over this clinic and to declare that Satan, the enemy of our souls is defeated and that he is defeated here in Germantown.  I continue to feel compelled to pray that as the young women are given the announcement that they are pregnant that rather than allowing fear to overwhelm them and overtake them, that like Mary, our Blessed Mother, they will have courage and allow God to take control of the situation that they find themselves in.  I have prayed that there will be many in the church who will embrace these young women that they will have their own visitation by older women in the church who can counsel them and teach as they walk through this pregnancy.  I have prayed that NO MORE babies will die at the Germantown clinic but that ALL will be born!  I have prayed that as these babies are saved from death and are born into this life that these new mothers will have the courage to present their children unto the Lord and dedicate them to His service.  Finally, I have been praying that as these babies are saved from death, born, and dedicated to the Lord that they are also brought up to serve Him and brought up in the knowledge of His word!

The Lord is gracious and compassionate and He is able to perform all of these things beyond anything we could ever imagine.  The women who find themselves in the situation of an unplanned pregnancy are scared and do not know where to turn.  They know deep down that their actions were out of order but God is in the business of putting the pieces back together.  God’s love for us is beyond anything we could ever imagine – “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

Day 1 – September 26, 2012

This is my first 40 days for life ever and I’m very excited to be a part of this and see what God has planned for Germantown specifically, and just in general.  So, it’s 4:30am and I’m waking up to rain falling outside my window and I’m thinking OK – this is the first day of the 40 days for life campaign and I’m getting ready to take the first prayer shift of the day – 6:00AM – YIKES!  Am I crazy?  I am so not a morning person but therein lay the sacrifice I suppose.  OK 6AM it is, every day of the campaign except Sundays!

I left my house at 5:20 on this first morning so I made sure I had enough time to get there and figure out where I should park.  Well that was easy I was settled 10 minutes early.  Now, I am wondering if I’m going to be walking up and down this sidewalk by myself – it’s dark out there.  Thankfully, I am not alone.  I am met by another gentleman named Jim who has picked up a bunch of signs that are just placed along the sidewalk.  The signs say things like – “Pray for an end to abortion”, “pray to stop late term abortions that happen here”, “40 days for life”, etc.  Well, Jim and I now walk up and down the sidewalk on Wisteria Drive in front of the office park where Dr. Carhart’s abortion clinic is located.  There are quite a few people out at 6am.  There is a lot of traffic on Wisteria Drive and a lot of people out walking/jogging or heading for a bus.  So, we know a lot of people saw our signs and some may have heard us praying!

When I first started to consider this I wondered what am I going to pray  about for an hour on the sidewalk?  I knew I was praying for an end to abortion but what form would that take?  Then Lord showed me exactly how to pray.  He said – “pray the Rosary” and I thought how perfect is that.  I can pray through and meditate on the mysteries of our Lord’s life while asking our Blessed Mother to intercede on behalf of the women who are deceived into believing they are doing the right thing, the clinic worker who is also deceived into believing that they are providing a necessary service, for Dr. Carhart’s salvation, and mostly for the aborted babies who will never have the chance to live.  The Lord showed me that I should meditate on His Joyful mysteries (the annunciation, the visitation, the nativity, the presentation, and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple) for all of the aborted babies.  He showed me that I should meditate on His sorrowful mysteries (the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion) for Dr. Carhart’s salvation.  He showed me that I should meditate on His Luminous mysteries (the baptism of the Lord, the wedding at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist) for the clinic workers, and he showed me that I should meditate on His Glorious mysteries (the resurrection, the ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit, His glorious return*, and His reign over all the earth*.  (*Not traditional) for the aborted babies.  My intention is pray through one set of mysteries for a week before moving onto the next one.