40 days for life

I just wanted to add my personal story of saying yes to life two times.

When I was 12 weeks pregnant (the first time), i started to have serious health problems and complications with my pregnancy. As testing went on for many weeks, by the 20th week the doctors discovered that my baby was going to have congenital heart defects, abdominal defects and have down syndrome, (with lots of surgeries in the future) so they offered and encouraged me at 20 weeks a termination. I laughed at them and said, "Termination is not an option in my life". I believe they were flabbergasted by my comment. There was one Attending, two residents, three students and two nurses that all crammed in my clinic exam room to break the news to me. I think they all wanted to see what my dramatic reaction was. I think I disappointed them.

On my next pregnancy, they discovered the same exact diagnosis for my baby as they did in the first one, but this time much earlier. This time I told all the others to kindly stay out of my exam room, and told the attending doctor that only he could come in to talk to me about the results. Again I was offered and encouraged a termination. I gave the exact same answer as the first time with a smile.

Both pregnancies were very bad, with me being sick and in the hospital most of the time. Both were emergency c-sections. But with my first, they almost lost both me and my daughter (I wont get into details), but I was in the hospital for over two weeks post partum. And had many complications post partum.

With my second, I got very sick again, but the Lord called my little girl home at three days old. The beauty of it was so many united in prayer, and put aside their differences for a moment in time. And my little Hanna passed away in my arms where she belonged. The sad thing was I went home from the hospital with empty arms.

The doctors told me not to have any other children or I may lose my life the next time.

I have one very beautiful and spirit filed daughter, who has been through many surgeries and health crises, but has taught me so much about life and love, and she serves the Lord in so many ways that I cant even begin to comprehend. She is a pure soul, and I am privileged to have been chosen by God to be her mother.

Day 13 - October 6

Intention:
For all fathers who are terrified of being fathers.

Scripture:
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.

Reflection: I had a friend many years ago who confided in me that he was terrified of being a father. He and his wife already had two children when this revelation came forth. "I never knew my father," he explained, "and I have no idea what a father is supposed to do." We continued to share about this, as well as pray together. He began to see he had a father's heart for his children. His biggest problem was not a limitation on love but not knowing how to act out this love.
One day we talked about the verse quoted at the top of this page. I shared that he did know his Father… not his biological father but his Heavenly Father, who had rescued him from a life of destruction not many years before. "How did your Heavenly Father guide you?" I asked. He talked about the ways he had seen God's love offered to him and the way the Lord had used circumstances and the Scriptures to mold him and mature him. "Well, the Lord wants to do the same thing through you for your children. Be available to His love and available to your kids. You'll do fine."
How wonderful it is to know that God takes a personal interest in each of us, many times using His faithful people - the Church - as channels of this love. No one is fatherless who lives in the Lord. His fatherly care begins at the moment of our conception, as it is written, "you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:12), and continues to be poured upon us throughout our lives.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank you for caring about each of us so deeply. Help us to see and know you as our Father in heaven each and every day of our lives. Your loving hand also rests on every child today carried in its mother's womb. May they be born into this world and come to know fully and personally your endless love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council

Day 14 - October 7

Intention:
Abortion is the great "no." May all of God's people have the freedom and grace to say "yes" to His marvelous plans.

Scripture:
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed and in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

Reflection: Unlike the rest of creation, we are capable of a personal relationship with God. Not only did God create us, but created us according to a plan devised from all eternity. No matter how far back we go in our imagination, there was never a time when God did not know each of us, in every detail of our being.
There was not a particular time when God decided to make us. The decision to make us has been in the mind of God from all eternity. All our days were written in His book.
To dare to say that a human being, developing in the womb, should not be born is as wrong as to say that a born person should not continue to grow and live. In each case, an attack on human life is an attack on the God who formed and made us. Jesus Christ is the great "yes" to the promises of God; abortion is the great "no."

Prayer:
Lord, I pray today for every unborn child. The beauty of the bodies and souls of these children flows from your hands and your eternal plan. Awaken in every human conscience a profound reverence for human life, and grant us grace to defend our smallest and most defenseless brothers and sisters, those still being formed in the secret places of their mothers' womb. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

Day 15 - October 8

Intention:
May God's people awaken to the fact that we are our brothers' keepers.

Scripture:
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground."

Reflection: "Methinks he doth protest too much ..."
The Bible is filled with passages that speak to our obligation to care for our fellow human beings. From the many commands in the books of Moses enjoining love of family, neighbors and even strangers, to Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, the injunction to care for others is inescapable.
In this account, the guilt-stricken Cain tries to shrug off his obligation to his own kin by dismissing it as an unreasonable duty. A la Shakespeare, though, "methinks he doth protest too much." Cain's objection doesn't stem from his sense of proper boundaries of responsibility, but from his own self-centered sense of self-preservation.
Christ said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). This is the standard of divine love. It required God to sacrifice what was most precious to Him for the temporal and eternal well being of all humankind (see John 3:16). Though on a much-reduced scale, he expects us to do the same.
Trying to duck our obligation to others is futile. We can't get away with simply dismissing others, especially the most vulnerable among us: the pre-born, the disabled, the sick and the aged. As with Cain, God sees and hears their suffering and will call us to account for what we do -- or do not do -- for them.

Prayer:
Father, help us to embrace the fact that we are our "brother's keeper." When, due to selfish motives, we try to cast off this responsibility please call to us to account. We would be pleasing to you and to our "brother." Through the help and grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Rev. Rob Schenck
President, Faith and Action

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Day 16 - October 9

Intention:
Pray that as young couples or single moms choose life for their child, the church will come alongside them physically, emotionally, and spiritually to help bear their burdens.

Scripture:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Reflection: Restoring those who are broken from sexual sin and who desire to live life differently -- a life focused on Christ -- is a burden the church must share. What an awesome opportunity for a spiritually mature woman to come alongside a single mom as a mentor and friend.
A regular time together praying and studying God's Word will help her mature in her walk with the Lord. Allowing her opportunity to observe life as you live it --- meal preparation, family time, and providing wholesome conversation and wise counsel on a frequent basis --- can provide teaching moments that will benefit her for a lifetime. Introducing her to a small group or class in the church where she and her baby are welcomed and plugged in will be vital to her restoration.
These are just a few examples of things the body of Christ can do. Staying connected with young couples or single moms who have chosen life should continue beyond the celebration of the child's birth if we truly desire to fulfill the law of Christ in bearing one another's burdens.
You will find it is not a burden after all, but a tremendous blessing as your family line extends to include these precious souls as part of your own.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, as our Shepherd You so tenderly care for us -- pulling us from the miry pit, guiding and directing us safely along the path of life, protecting us from the dangers that are ahead and taking us to pastures that are green. Lord, use us as Your vessels to shepherd these young men and women who have honored you by choosing life for their child. Give us wisdom and discernment along with Your love and compassion so that we are never a stumbling block but rather a guide that always takes them to You, the true Shepherd. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

Day 17 - October 10

Intention:

May all understand more deeply that the pro-life message is rooted in the two basic truths of life:

1. There is a God;
2. 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.

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.
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

Just letting you know that I am reading, even though I do not have anythign to add.

faerieevaH said:

Just letting you know that I am reading, even though I do not have anythign to add.

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Thank you for uniting with us.

Day 18 - October 11

Intention:
We pray for a flowering of the joy of parenthood.

Scripture:
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Reflection: I still vividly remember the day my first child was born. As she came into the world I gazed upon the most beautiful little baby I'd ever seen. Later I was driving home from the hospital for a shower and a fresh change of clothes when a song came on the radio, "The Men in My Little Girl's Life" -- a ballad about being a father as he watches his daughter grow through childhood to womanhood. I wept as I listened, knowing those years would go by very fast… and they did.
Being a father, whenever I read the Psalm quoted above I'm always captivated by one word - "heritage." It basically means "something passed down from a preceding generation." That little girl I watched being born and wept for is not mine to give to God like a product of our fertility, but rather His, which he has entrusted to us. So are all her siblings.
My wife and I share a great treasure: precious lives, which are placed in our lineage that His life with us might be perpetuated. To the psalmist, this was a blessing from the Lawgiver, God Himself, who blessed Israel with another generation intended to continue their covenantal promise. For us in Christ, it is his gift of succeeding generations for His Church and her families.
These days I'm looking upon my grandchildren, and rejoicing that my children and their spouses will pass on the greatness of Christ's gospel to them and thus will continue the work of God in the world. What a blessing. What a heritage!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please keep me from taking for granted the gift of children. Help us to remember this heritage that you have given us. Make us faithful stewards of these precious lives, that each generation might be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council

Day 19 - October 12

Intention:
We pray for a renewal of our zeal to offer generous help to the unborn and their families.

Scripture:
If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me, What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
Reflection:
The ground is level as we stand before God.
Job lived with an awe provoking sense of God's expectation of him, particularly regarding his obligation to care for the weak and needy. He knew that in God's economy everyone stands on level ground when it comes to our status as God's creatures. Because of that central truth, we must take care of each other.
Job also knew that he didn't deserve any of the good things God gave to him. Instead, those blessings came to Job from God's benevolent heart. As an extension of that knowledge, Job instinctively linked his obligation to be generous to others to God's kindness toward him.
As in Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35), Job knew that it is an egregious sin to deny to others what we enjoy ourselves. He actually calls down on his own head severe condemnation and even punishment should he fail to share with others out of his own abundance (see verses 16-23).
Proverbs 3:27 reads, "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so." Some things are so obvious that we don't even need to pray except to ask of God forgiveness and the power to do what so obviously needs doing.

Prayer:
God, forgive us when we try to explain away the obligation we have to help others who need help. Enable us to not devalue them because they are in the circumstance that they are in, but to see them for what they are, those, who like us, were formed by your hand in their mother's womb. Amen.
Rev. Rob Schenck
President, Faith and Action, and National Clergy Council

Intention:
May God's justice sober our society, and may mercy triumph over judgment.

Scripture:
Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.
Reflection:
The value of every human being can hardly be seen more clearly than with this verse. God, the King of the universe, has created all human beings in his image, and declares forthrightly that shedding the blood of any individual will require the blood of the one who shed it. God's concern for human beings is not limited to any particular group. Indeed, his concern is universal, and includes male and female, young and old, born and unborn, disabled and able-bodied, the citizens of every nation on earth.
Abortion, the deliberate killing of the unborn, is the shedding of innocent blood. Surely the blood of millions upon millions of innocent children cries out to God. It is true that we live in an age of grace, and yet this passage (among many other texts which express similar sentiments) should give every thinking Christian pause.
Christians of all people, entrusted with the Word of God as we are, must take a stand. We must speak out. We must do all that we can to protect the innocent, to pursue justice, and to encourage the repentance of all those who bear responsibility for this great evil. Only in this manner can we hope to forestall the judgment that must otherwise surely come.
This passage should also be seen as an encouragement to educate and disciple our children and grandchildren about what it means to be human, and the responsibility that will become theirs in this ongoing struggle.

Prayer:
O Father, forgive us for our lack of courage and our want of compassion for the unborn and for those lost and hurt by abortion. Fill us anew with your Spirit. Renew our minds, strengthen us in righteousness, help us be people of salt and light within our nation. May every human being, from conception to natural death, be treated with the respect due those made in your image. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Rev. John Brown
Director, United Friends for Life (United Church of Christ)

Day 21 - October 14

Intention:
Pray that we each will daily put on the full armor of God, so that we are strong in the Lord and the power of His might.

Scripture:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand.
Reflection:
I am confounded to see how the battle over the issue of life is perceived more often in churches today as political rather than spiritual. Ironically, the enemy has used this twisted perception to silence many in the body of Christ. We must see the battle for what it is and if we are to be prepared to face the spiritual enemy on the issue of abortion, we must daily "put on" the armor God has given us:

• Gird your waist with Truth (vs. 14) - Commit your emotions to believe truth and to speak truth, regardless of the repercussions.
• Put on the breastplate of Righteousness (vs. 14) -It will protect our hearts - the innermost springs of our beings - from all unrighteousness so evident in this fallen world.
• Shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. (vs. 15) -Preparation is vital if we are to be effective in God's work.
• Taking the shield of faith (vs.16) - The Accuser will instill doubt, fear, and guilt. Faith acts as an invisible shield that deflects such false accusations.
• Taking the Helmet of salvation (vs.17) - A helmet protects the head, the brain and in turn our mind and thoughts. Satan hopes we will set aside divine revelation for human reasoning.
• Taking the sword of the Spirit (vs.17) - The Word of God, the only offensive weapon in this armor, was used by the Lord Jesus against Satan. The living Word is powerful and effective.

Our armor is complete. We are ready to wage war, and the next verse tells us how, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit." (vs.18)

Prayer:
Dear Lord, as you lead us into the spiritual battle of abortion may we be reminded that the battle is truly Yours. We thank you for equipping us with Your armor. Lead us daily to put it on! Thank you for allowing us to serve under your command, and for hearing our requests for direction and protection. Thank you for the victory that is ours because of Your Son Jesus, amen.
Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" talk show

Day 22 - October 15

Intention:
May those who hold life as trivial realize that we live because God wills it so.

Scripture:
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Reflection:
Job was a man acquainted with grief, trials and tribulation. He had everything taken from him, including his family. He endured sickness, ridicule and judgment from his friends. Everyone gave him advice about his situation, questioning his spirituality and his God. Job's circumstances were bad but he never loses faith. Why? Because "the hand of the Lord has made all life." Created by God, he knows his life has meaning and purpose, regardless of the circumstances.
In our present culture, we've lost that basic truth; every life is made and allowed to live by God's sovereign authority. As people who pride ourselves on our independence, we have a hard time acknowledging our dependence on God. From our creation, when we were knit together in our mother's womb to our last breath, God's word is clear that "in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."
It's time for us as individuals, and as a society, to recognize that we exist by God's grace and turn back to Him, honoring His word and His teachings. Why? Because our world is full of Jobs, people who are dealing with trials and tribulations and hurting desperately. Job's response should be ours as well. Regardless of what we face (even an unplanned pregnancy) God in His wisdom and mercy will redeem it. How do I know? Job's friends who doubted God's sovereignty cry out to God asking for help, God instructs Job to pray for his friends and after he does, God restores all that Job had lost. In other words, because Job never lost faith and knew and trusted His Creator, the Lord blessed Job.

Prayer:
Thank you Father God for being the Creator of my life and every life. Please give me, and the society in which I live, an appreciation for your gift of life. Please help us set aside our pride and acknowledge that we need you. Show me how I can honor you today in response to all the blessings you bestow so freely. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Georgette Forney
President, Anglicans for Life

Day 23 - October 16

Intention:
We pray for the strength to love those who do not love us.

Scripture:
But the Lord said "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in the night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
Reflection:
God doesn't value people and things like we do. Jonah loved a shade tree more than an entire city of sinful people. We love our dogs more than a terrorist. We love our cars more than a beggar on the side of the road. And sometimes, we love our money more than a child growing in a desperate teenager's womb.
But God isn't like us. Genesis 1 tells us that humans were the capstone of God's creation. We were created on the sixth day after God had completed the land, the stars, the plants and the animals. Therefore, His love for us is greater than His love for a plant, an animal, or any other created thing. And the book of Jonah tells us that He loves even the most sinful people and seeks to bring them into His merciful arms. And it's a love that seeks to touch all of his created children: that desperate teenager, the baby growing in her womb, even tyrants and terrorists. So it's up to us to imitate God's merciful love by helping and praying for those who persecute us, and those who don't love us back.

Prayer:
Gracious God, loving our enemies seems like one of most difficult things you could ask of us. Please remind us that this is how you love and that if you ask it of us then you will give us the grace to do it. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dennis DiMauro
Lutherans for Life representative to the National Pro-life Religious Council

Day 24 - October 17

Intention:
Pray that God will continue to bless the efforts that have gone into the 40 Days for Life campaign, as we trust Him for the results.

Scripture:
Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name.
Reflection:
Nehemiah provides an awesome blueprint for volunteers in God's service, particularly those responding to the devastation abortion has caused our nation.
Nehemiah grieved for God's reputation as he witnessed the condition of the city walls of Jerusalem. The walls were broken down which was seen by neighboring people as a sign of weakness on the part of Jerusalem's God. No wall meant no security for the city and its people.
We learn from his story that he covered every detail in prayer; inspired others to join the cause; organized others to help do the work; confronted opposition directly and turned to God when discouraged; and finally celebrated what was accomplished and gave God all the glory!
Like Nehemiah, we must acknowledge God's sovereignty as we serve Him before a mocking world. We too need to be reminded that we are "fighting" for our families. We too must have an attitude of confession and repentance before a Holy God. We must pray for strength, refute slander, and not be diverted from our work.
Like Nehemiah, we will draw attention from the enemy when we are seeking to protect the well-being of God's people. We too must stand firm and seek God's help to persevere until the task is done. We too will be victorious.

Prayer:
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in heaven and in the earth is Yours. We pray for your continued guidance and protection throughout the remainder of this 40 day campaign. May we be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in Your work, knowing that our labor will not be in vain. We pray in the name of Jesus, amen.
Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

Day 25 - October 18

Intention:
We pray for the conversion of all those who refuse to acknowledge that human life belongs only to God.

Scripture:
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Reflection:
To be or not to be? There is no question!
The question of "being" is something philosophers have long pondered. What is the meaning of being and what is the source? In the passage before us, we have our answer. We have being because we are known by God.
For God to declare that he knows and sets apart the prophet Jeremiah even before he is conceived indicates that our being rests in God's own being. Because He is and because He wills we, therefore, are and do. The Apostle Paul says as much when he declares before the philosophers of his day, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
One of the tragedies of the abortion culture is that life in the womb has been so heartbreakingly devalued. To embrace the arguments of the "pro-choice" crowd one must conclude that the child in the womb doesn't exist, isn't there, has no being. But nothing could be further from the truth. That child is known by God and, as such, has being.

Prayer:
Lord God, we confess that in You we live and move and have our being. Because You are, we are. May we find grace from You to affirm the being of every human and may we labor to make this truth known to the world around us. Amen.
Rev. J. Kirk van der Swaagh
Pastor, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference

Day 26 - October 19

Intention:
That those who have forgotten their purpose may discover it in God and therefore have the courage to choose life.

Scripture:
These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season, what you give them they gather in; you open your hand they are filled with good. You hide your face, they are troubled; you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.
Reflection:
"I am a feather on the breath of God."
As the quote above portrays, we are upheld by the power and purpose of God. Our very existence on earth, from our body's first breath to its last, when we leave it to return home, is our Father's choice and happens only by His willing to do so.
He who created the universe also created that which is "me." I do not "have" a soul - I AM a soul, as well as a body. My entire purpose in this life is to find my way back to my Creator.

Prayer:
Beloved Father, remind us today that there is no truth but you. Do not let us fall prey to the evil one's lie that we may choose death. Remind us right now that you, who created all life, are in control of all life, and let us know right now that you who created all life, are in control of all life, and let us choose life always.
Father, please let us hear your voice more today than yesterday. Keep lighting the pathway home, for us and for all who participate in this 40 Days for Life campaign. Father, we're on our way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Vera Faith Lord
Director, Alpha/Omega Life Ministry
Representative of the Orthodox Church to the National Pro-life Religious Council

Day 27 - October 20

Intention:
We pray for humility in our work for God's Kingdom.

Scripture:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Reflection:
There is no limit to what we can accomplish when we don't care who gets the credit.
Jesus Christ's life on earth exemplifies a total submission to the will of the Father. His humility, compassion, gentleness and thoughtfulness are reflected over and over again in the New Testament. He was God incarnate, yet He chose to be born to a humble, working class home.
How absurd it must have seemed to the rich and powerful that the Son of God, the Messiah, the one foretold by the prophets, the 'King of the Jews' was born and raised as a simple peasant.
During His thirty-three years on earth, He sought no riches, claimed no secular power and gathered no possessions. Yet, His short time on earth changed more lives, softened more hearts, and gave hope to more people, than all the rich and powerful human 'kings' combined. And, at the end of His life on earth, by dying on the cross, He opened the door to eternal life for those who heed his words and follow in his footsteps.

Prayer:
O Lord, help us follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Let us humbly and diligently work to restore legal protection for the unborn, the disabled, the medically dependent and all innocent children of God whose lives are threatened. Let us remember the old adage that "He can never lead who has not first learned to obey." And, Lord, grant us a peaceful heart as we labor in your name. Amen.
Ernest Ohlhoff
Outreach Director, National Right to Life

faerieevaH said:

Just letting you know that I am reading, even though I do not have anythign to add.

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Me too! Praying and reading.