It's Day 40 -- the final day of this fall's 40 Days
for Life effort.
Margaret, Claire, Patrick, and I just arrived in
Sarasota, Florida -- the 51st city I've traveled to
during this 40 Days for Life campaign.
When I logged onto my computer and began to read the
hundreds of e-mail messages reporting victories from
across North America, a wave of emotions swept over
me: joy, relief, excitement, peace, thanksgiving.
Together we have witnessed God accomplishing amazing
miracles through His people.
I'll share some highlights of these reports with you
over the next few days (before taking a MUCH needed
break from e-mail :-)
I just recorded a 9-minute "wrap-up" audio message
that will be played at many of the concluding events
for local campaigns across North America today. You
can listen to it online at:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=170
Though this campaign is coming to an end, we know
that there is much work still to do before the day
when no more babies die and no more women cry.
Susan in Maryland realizes that as well, offering her
thoughts after spending time in prayer at an abortion
center -- citing the importance of being there today,
tomorrow... and as long as it takes.
Susan and two friends left church to pray at the
vigil outside Whole Woman's Health -- it's hard to
imagine a more erroneous name for a place of death.
This particular abortion facility is tucked away in
the back of a shopping center and many people don't
even realize it's there, even though it's near busy
highways in metropolitan Baltimore.
As the three drove towards the vigil, the sky got
progressively darker. "So much so," she thought,
"that I wondered in my heart if a 'cloud of darkness'
permanently existed over the clinic," which has been
in business for more than 25 years. What does it
take, she asked her friends, to close down such an
abomination?
Seven others were praying at the clinic. When the
three friends arrived, so did the rain. "It seemed
like the sky had exploded with a storm fierce and
powerful," Susan said. "Torrents of rain pelted our
faces, saturated our clothing, but we did not flinch
but held steady in unified prayer for the unborn."
The wind picked up, blowing signs out of vigil
participants' hands and turning umbrellas inside out.
Some ran for rain gear, but no one stopped praying.
"The wind blew," said Susan, "over and over, with
countless gusts that whipped our faces and with
debris that stung our skin."
As she prayed, Susan thought about why she was there.
"Just the night before, I had visited Whole Woman's
Health web site. They have the most attractive women
pictured with such luring lies as, 'We care about the
whole woman.'" For extra fees, this clinic offers a
"VIP abortion" package with a private room, light
meal and herbal tea.
The thought of that just led Susan to pray even
harder. "Again the wind blew and the rain pelted our
faces."
She and her friends finished their prayer time at the
40 Days for Life prayer vigil with wet hair and
soaked socks, feeling drenched but not drained.
"Perhaps, this day, back in the parking lot, God
touched a heart from the power of our prayers and had
a young mother turn away from the clinic," said
Susan.
"Perhaps, the abortionist felt our presence and
thought for a moment what our signs said. Or maybe a
nervous parent took their pregnant daughter back to
the car and just drove them home. In any event, we
pray and continue to pray that we all will see the
day when this moral crime will stop. We pray for a
country where all will be protected -- born and
unborn. No matter what weather, we stand with God.
"Pray today for an end to abortion," she added. "Just
do it!"
Here's today's devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone,
National Director of Priests for Life and President
of the National Pro-life Religious Council...
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DAY 40 INTENTION
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Let us keep our eyes fixed on the New Jerusalem,
where death will be no more.
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SCRIPTURE
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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.
-----------------------------------------------------
Yours for Life,
David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
P.S.- I, like you, am very concerned about our
national elections that happen this Tuesday, November
4. The stakes have NEVER been higher. Over the next
two days, I will suggest simple -- but highly
effective -- things you and I can do to make a
lifesaving impact in these crucial last few days.
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