- Feb 5, 2002
- 182,819
- 66,280
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Upvote
0
Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
We can always depend on you during 40 Days For Life Anygma!
Thank you!
It's Day 40 -- and I have great news to share! As of
right now, we know of ...
... 541 babies -- and their mothers -- that God has
spared from abortion.
That's at least 3,352 since the first coordinated
40 Days for Life campaign a mere three years ago. And
who knows how many more that we'll never hear about?
"The Everett Planned Parenthood is closed again,"
wrote Ed, one of the local 40 Days for Life leaders
in Everett, Washington. "It's the third Friday closed
this campaign!"
In Columbia, Missouri ... the Planned Parenthood
facility there hasn't done abortions since August 9.
Faithful volunteers are continuing the vigil ...
... and Planned Parenthood doesn't like it.
"We found out that Planned Parenthood in Kansas is
watching us on video -- over 100 miles away," said
Kathy in Columbia, "and they called in a 'violation'
to the Columbia police station."
The "violation"? There was a camera tripod sitting in
Planned Parenthood's driveway. "Soon two police cars
showed up and they went in," Kathy said.
It turns out the tripod belonged to a reporter who
was working on a news story. The police quickly left
when they found out what was really going on. "One
officer has come out twice -- and he's not too happy
with Planned Parenthood."
And all this time ... no abortions in Columbia!
And of course ... no abortions AT ALL in Severna Park,
Maryland ... where an abortion facility CLOSED ITS
DOORS FOREVER at the very beginning of this campaign!
Who knows how many lives have been saved in Columbia
and Severna Park?
There have also been at least four abortion facility
employees who have left their jobs during this 40 Days
for Life campaign -- possibly more. And others may be
thinking about it.
And then there's Anita's van -- a life-saver on
wheels. It has "pray to end abortion" painted on the
side, along with a pregnancy help center's phone
number and the 40 Days for Life web address.
To see a picture of the van, please go to:
DAY 40: 541 spared … how many more? | 40 Days for Life
Lives have been saved because of the information on
the van -- no one knows how many. But this pro-life
mission was about to come to an end. The van was about
to be repossessed.
Anita had no idea what would happen. So she prayed.
She had to decide whether to pay her tithe ... or the
note on the van. She paid her tithe.
Anita didn't know it, but one of her friends sent out
an e-mail that explained the situation. And people
started giving. Before long, there was enough to pay
off the loan!
"This is not my van," she said. "This van belongs
first and foremost to God, and then to every single
pro-life person out there."
The van -- and its message -- will stay on the road.
And who knows how many lives will be saved?
"Abortion will truly be finished one day," Anita
said. "I pray it is very soon. The walls of deception
are crumbling as we speak. The truth is spreading --
one heart at a time -- and all of you have played a
part in getting that message out. Thank you all so
very much!"
Here's today's devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone,
National Director of Priests for Life.
-----------------------------------------------------
DAY 40 INTENTION
-----------------------------------------------------
Let us keep our eyes fixed on the New Jerusalem,
where death will be no more.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will
be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for
the old order of things has passed away." He who was
seated on the throne said, "I am making everything
new!"
--Revelation 21:4-5
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone
-----------------------------------------------------
Every activity we undertake in defense of the
sanctity of life is prophetic, inasmuch as it points
to the day when "death will be no more."
Every victory we have when an act of abortion is
prevented is prophetic of that day when death itself
will be definitively conquered.
Every triumph of grace in this world, whereby someone
is brought to see the value of life and given the
strength to welcome it, is a breaking into our
history of that definitive future in which the old
order of things will have passed, and all things will
be made new.
As pro-life warriors, we must keep our eyes fixed on
heaven, and our hearts secure in the hope that the
day is coming when all evil will be conquered. It is
the future that shapes the present; it is victory
that informs the battle; it is the destination that
determines the journey.
Daily, we are called to reflect on heaven. When we
weep, we are to think of the day when every tear will
be wiped away.
When we face the destructive power of death, we are
to think of the day when death is swallowed up in
victory.
When we labor against abortion, we are to think of
the day when we will have the rest and peace of the
final triumph of life.
Heaven is as real as earth, and its joys will be as
real as our present sorrows.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------
Father, you are the God of hope. Your word fills us
with the vision of the world to come, when every tear
will be wiped away, and death will be no more.
Father, how we need that hope, how we are
strengthened by that vision!
Keep our hearts focused on heaven, and diligent in
the labors of earth. As we struggle against the
culture of death, root our souls in the assurance of
victory. We pray through Christ our Lord, Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
-----------------------------------------------------
To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2010day40print.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------
For Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
PS: If you have good news to share from YOUR 40 Days
for Life campaign, please leave a comment at
today's blog entry:
DAY 40: 541 spared … how many more? | 40 Days for Life
I just got home. What a week! What a fall it has been!
You have put in time, prayer and sweat ... and God has
blessed these efforts more than we could have ever
expected back on September 22 when the campaign started.
As we tally up the final results of this fall's 40 Days
for Life campaign, we know that anything is possible
with God ... but this campaign is just the beginning.
In places where 40 Days for Life has been conducted
for the first time ever ...
... there is great hope and excitement.
In Zion, Illinois -- a community without an abortion
center -- Joellyn overcame a number of challenges and
helped organize a campaign that has touched hearts and
reports at least one life saved from abortion.
"This morning at church, a lady approached me and
said, 'Let's keep those pray-to-end-abortion signs
for the next prayer vigil in the spring!' That was
such wonderful news to me," she said, "since this
fall was the first time Zion had joined in as a part
of 40 Days for Life. Praise God!"
The first-time 40 Days for Life campaign in London,
England touched many.
"It's the grand finale week, and wish it was the
beginning of the 40 days," said Monde. "The experience
of being at the vigil for UK's 40 Days for Life has
been consoling and strengthening to my soul. It's my
prayer and hope that God's grace will enable me to
share this experience to be in practice this time
around next year in Zambia."
That's just one of a number of new countries that are
ready to join the 40 Days for Life effort in 2011.
Because of your example, many others are now
considering a leap of faith and doing something
they've never done before ... something uncomfortable
-- going to stand and pray in front of the places
where innocent lives are being lost.
"People do not realize the good they do just being
there praying quietly," said one volunteer in
St. Louis, Missouri. "People going inside see the
people praying peaceably and not shouting, and they
want to be a part of that peace."
This vigil participant added, "I really appreciate
what the 40 Days for Life campaign does to set up
such a program. I just regret that it only comes
twice a year."
You know ... it doesn't have to end.
We've always said that 40 Days for Life is but a
first step. Now, it's time to take the next step.
What will that next step be? For you personally?
For your community?
Others are already answering that question.
"In the wake of 40 Days for Life, we are forming four
distinct teams of sidewalk counselors and prayer
warriors so that the work will not merely continue,
but will flourish," said Michael in Los Angeles,
California. "We hope to quadruple our effectiveness."
Some local teams have already done that, and they're
seeing amazing results.
In Texas, for instance, the San Antonio Coalition for
Life was formed right after the first national 40 Days
for Life campaign in 2007.
"Since that time," said Amy in San Antonio, "we have
continued to be present, in prayer, on the sidewalk
for every abortion day and have seen, in less than a
year, the abortion rate at this clinic dropped by
46 percent!"
These things can be repeated in your community --
through faithful response to God's call, through hard
work -- and of course, through prayer.
What are we waiting for?
Here's today's "bonus" devotional from Fr. Frank
Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life.
-----------------------------------------------------
DAY 41 INTENTION
-----------------------------------------------------
Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears
abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to
storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into
the gates of heaven.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------
On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
hell will not prevail against it.
-- Matthew 16:18
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone
-----------------------------------------------------
When we read this verse, we usually think that the
Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body,
will withstand all the attacks launched against it.
Of course, that is true.
But when we think about it more carefully, we realize
that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the
battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand
still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it.
So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not
prevail against the church, who is doing the
attacking? It is the church storming the gates!
The church, all of God's people in Christ, is called
to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory,
and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait
for an invitation; we already have a command. We
prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be
perfect; we already have one who has gone before us.
During these 40 days, we have stormed the gates. We
have taken the offensive. We have pushed forward the
boundaries of the kingdom. And we must keep doing so,
in numerous ways.
Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates
of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The
gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The
gates of death will fall in the presence of the
church, the People of Life!
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------
Father, we praise you. We have heard the voice of
your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard.
We have done battle with the power of evil, and
therefore we can have compassion on those still
within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom
of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to
your Kingdom of Light.
May the witness of all your people through these 40
Days for Life bear abundant fruit, and may we begin
again each day to storm the gates of hell until You
welcome us into the gates of heaven. We pray in the
victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
-----------------------------------------------------
To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2010day41print.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------
For Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
PS: What's next for you? For your community's 40 Days
for Life effort? Please share your story by
leaving a comment at today's blog entry:
DAY 41+: The work is just beginning | 40 Days for Life
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?