“Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Songs 2:8-9
We consider Unborn Jesus in the Virgin Mary’s womb during the second trimester of this Redemptive Pregnancy.
By the 14th week (of gestation) He has significant cerebellar control which is reflected in a variety of coordinated physical movements and facial expressions. Unborn Jesus clenches His fists, somersaults, rolls over and kicks. For he is like us in all things, but sin (cf. Heb 4:15). 4 1/3 to 4 2/3 inches in length and about 2 ¾ ounces in weight.
His wrinkled skin is still somewhat transparent and noticeably we see His heart vibrant and beating 120 – 160 beats per minute (around twice the adult heart rate). Thirty years hence Jesus will say: “Come to me…for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28-29). This miniscule heart, is even now pumping the Savior’s blood, which will wash away the sins of humanity. A tiny red tide of mercy.
By the 20th week of gestation, Unborn Jesus can hear conversations between Mary and Joseph (and others) – Joseph’s deeper voice is easier for Him to hear. He recognizes their voices. When Mary visits with Joseph while he is working at his carpenter’s trade, Unborn Jesus exhibits a ‘startle reflex’ when He hears loud hammer blows and other noises. (After birth He will grow accustomed to these familiar sounds.) And when Mary sings Psalms, He is comforted. “Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day” (Psalm 96:2). By the 22nd week of gestation, He is about 8 ½ inches in length and weighs about 1 ¼ pounds.
Straßburg, Frauenhaus-Museum, Zweifel-Joseph (Detail) Mary and Joseph before the Birth of Jesus.
Painting from Gemaldegalerie Berlin
As we approach Christmas – keeping in mind the pregnant Virgin Mary and her growing unborn baby – this is a good time to ask, “What does our little Savior look like?”
The Zygote Christ Child is a mere one cell and you can’t even see Him. This cornerstone cell of the Christ Child’s Body is a male human living cell with 46 chromosomes. Jesus at this one cell stage is literally bursting with Grace! This is “the grace of union”, when the Son of God assumed a human nature from His very conception, which St. Thomas Aquinas taught was the source of every other grace. He is One Cell and one with us.
The Blastocyst Christ Child at about one week development now consists of more than 100 cells; a one hundredfold blessing for humanity. He is implanted into the lining of Mary’s womb and is clearly focused on His Incarnation Mission.
The Embryonic Christ Child is between 1/12 to 1/6 of an inch in length (around 4 weeks gestation). He is “the least among us” but has the most to give! His primitive Sacred Heart is beating for love, a tempo that this world has never heard before, with a meaning that will take a life time to comprehend. (Memo to Mary: Your little baby has taken charge of this redemptive pregnancy already, sending chemical-hormonal messages from His body to yours – thank you Mary for passing on essential nutrients to your Embryonic Christ Child, you are building up His tiny body and preparing Him for His Redemptive Mission.)
The Fetus Christ Child (around 8 weeks gestation) is 1 ¼ to 1 2/3 inches in length and weighs about 1/3 ounce. He is not heavy, He is our brother, in solidarity with all unborn children, embracing our humanity in His body and Soul. In proportion to the rest of His rapidly growing body, Christ’s head and heart are very big; He knows us and loves us. His Sacred Heart beats at about 140 beats per minute.
As His First Trimester ends, Unborn Jesus shows extraordinary signs of typical growth for an unborn baby. All vital organs are fully formed, His hair is growing, you can count the fingers on His hand and His finger nails are growing too! See each ear taking on its final shape and the iris forming in His eye. “Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; open thy eyes, O Lord, and see….”(Isaiah 37:17) In the buoyant liquid environment in which He grows, Unborn Jesus is showing not just a ‘walking reflex’ but vigorously stretches His limbs and can even be seen leaping.
“Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.” Song of Songs 2:8-9
Maestro Francesco, XIII century
Madonna Platytera fra tre santi , Venezia, Scuola di S.
Pregnant virgin. In Pinacoteca, Vatican Museum
During his Homily for the Vigil of Nascent Life on November 27, Pope Benedict speaks of the connection between the unborn and Christ’s time in the womb:
“The beginning of the liturgical year helps us to relive the expectation of God made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, God who makes himself small, He becomes a child, it speaks to us of the coming of a God who is near, who wanted to experience the life of man, from the very beginning, to save it completely, fully. And so the mystery of the Incarnation of the Lord and the beginning of human life are intimately connected and in harmony with each other within the one saving plan of God, the Lord of life of each and every one of us. The Incarnation reveals to us, with intense light and in an amazing way, that every human life has an incomparable, a most elevated dignity.”
Later in the Homily he states:
“With regard to the embryo in the womb, science itself highlights its autonomy capable of interaction with the mother, the coordination of biological processes, the continuity of development, the growing complexity of the organism. This is not an accumulation of biological material, but a new living being, dynamic and wonderfully ordered, a new unique human being. So was Jesus in Mary’s womb, so it was for all of us in our mother’s womb. With the ancient Christian writer Tertullian we can say: ” he who will be a man is already one” (Apologeticum IX, 8), there is no reason not to consider him a person from conception.”
He closes the Homily by entrusting the unborn to Our Lady who bore Jesus, our Savior in her womb:
To the Virgin Mary, who welcomed the Son of God made man with faith, with her maternal womb, with loving care, with nurturing support and vibrant with love, we entrust our commitment and prayer in favour of unborn life .
To read the entire homily click here
Filed under: Advent, Evangelium Vitae, Pope Benedict XVI, Prayer, Pro-life
Mary Kept All These Things and Pondered Them in Her Heart by Robert Anning Bell from Mary, The Mother of Jesus (Alice Meynell)
On the eve of the first Sunday of Advent – Saturday evening, November 27, 2010 – the Pope will lead a VIGIL FOR NASCENT HUMAN LIFE at St. Peter’s in Rome, and he has asked the world’s Bishops and priests to do the same in their own dioceses and parishes.
The Pope describes the intention of the Vigil as follows:
“The time of preparation for Holy Christmas is a favorable moment to invoke Divine protection over each human being called to existence, also as thanksgiving to God for the gift of life received from our parents.”
Americans please note the appropriate theme of thanksgiving which also relates to the national holiday weekend.
The call for this worldwide Vigil by our Pope is a breakthrough of momentous proportions for many reasons. But one not so obvious reason is that the Church tends to lean on her traditions, perhaps at times being slow to implement brand new ones. The Church has stood prophetically, time and again, for respect for human life from conception to natural death. But the Church has been slow to turn her coordinated worldwide liturgical prayer directly at the worldwide scourge of abortion. No longer!
Benedict’s Pro – Life Prayer Vigil is to prayer, what John Paul II’s encycylical Evangelium Vitae “The Gospel of Life” is to teaching. Our U.S. Chairman for the Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro – Life Activities, Cardinal DiNardo, says this Papal request is “unprecedented” – but that is an understatement.
By making this worldwide Vigil an Advent event, the Pope has now linked in our Catholic Christian consciousness the concept of the solidarity between Unborn Jesus and all unborn children. There is no turning back now!
Filed under: Biblical Reflections, Inspirational Pro-life leaders, Pro-life, Thriving Not Just Surviving!
Unborn Word of the Day has received permission to post Visitation by Bradi Barth* copyright “BRADI BARTH” and “@HERBRONNEN vzw {www.bradi-barth.org) Click on painting for full view.
“…God loved the world so much that he gave his son – it was a giving – it is as much as if to say it hurt God to give, because he loved the world so much that he gave his son, and he gave him to Virgin Mary, and what did she do with him?
As soon as he came in her life – immediately she went in haste to give that good news, and as she came into the house of her cousin, the child – the unborn child – the child in the womb of Elizabeth, leapt with joy. He was that little unborn child…was the first messenger of peace. He recognized the Prince of Peace, he recognized that Christ has come to bring the good news for you and for me.”
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, December 1979
_________________________________________________________
*We would encourage our readers to visit the Bradi Barth’s website: Bradi-Barth.org. Bradi Barth (1922-2007) was an amazing Catholic artist. She was born in Switzerland but lived most of her life in Belgium. Her art is rich in tradition, amazingly unique and awe-inspiring.
In October 2000 Bradi Barth started her foundation “HERBRONNEN vzw”, fixing clearly its mission and goals:
- Evangelization in the largest sense – Support for the missions – In Union with the Pope of Rome – In Union with Christ – Under the protection of the Holy Virgin Mary
Michele Tosini (1503-77) St. Luke
October 18 is the feast day of St. Luke.
In chapters One and Two of the Gospel of St. Luke we have 127 verses of narrative concerning the infancy and childhood of Jesus Christ and mysteries surrounding His infancy (Lk 1:5 – 2:52). These verses are unique to Luke and outline the earliest vignettes known about the childhood of Jesus Christ. The verses restricted to the infancy period are slightly less: 114 verses (Lk 1:5 – Lk 2:39).
The extraordinary account of the Annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, for example, is presented only in Luke and no where else. Likewise, the remarkable Visitation event (and Magnificat “song”) and Bethlehem birth saga are Lukan treasures only. Which might lead us to wonder how would Christianity be different if there was no Luke? Would we celebrate Christmas? (Matthew also provides 47 verses of invaluable introductory information as well concerning Mary, Joseph and Jesus, before and after the birth. Mt 1:18 – 2:23)
We are indebted to Luke in a thousand ways, but especially for the first two chapters of his Gospel which are in a way a “prologue”, comparable to the famous “Prologue” to the Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-18): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…” But while the Prologue of John is about Mysteries and realities concerning the Word Incarnate, this “prologue” of Luke’s is focused on biological and historical events which reveal the Child Incarnate. While John is mystical, Luke is highly personal yet supernatural. All of this is to say that, the Incarnation Mystery of faith is so wondrous, that we need both Luke and John to unfold for us its beauty and reality. We can listen to John’s Prologue and see it with the eyes of the heart, but Luke’s we visualize all in fabulous images.
But it is only Luke who reveals to us the babyhood of Jesus and the attendant mysteries thereto. Luke is one of the Church’s great “Pro – Life” saints! There is no way around it. He alone tells of the conception of Jesus Christ, paints for us the tender mother who opens up her heart and soul to God’s plan and Spirit, then recounts the mysterious encounter between pregnant mothers and unborn children and finally recounts in all its poverty and glory the birth of humankind’s Savior in a manger.
St. Luke we thank you for the little details you carefully recorded about our Savior’s first nine months in the womb and then in the manger. You, St. Luke, have brought more tears of joy to human eyes than any other author in human history. You have revealed to us the mother of the baby Jesus and have transported us in our thoughts to kneel beside the beasts and shepherds, beneath the angels’ meditative gaze. It was first your descriptive words which gave rise to those Christmas hymns we sing now that cause our hearts to bow down in adoration again.
St. Luke, when we see you in heaven, we will get in that very long reception line of pro-life Christians who want to shake your hand, the hand which wrote down the sacred events of our Savior’s babyhood, events which gave us hope for all our earthly days.
El Greco (1541-1614) St. Luke (detail)
Respect Life Sunday – October 3, 2010
Topics addressed in this year’s Respect Life Program reflect a diversity of pro-life concerns (we have added links to some excellent pamphlets/bulletin inserts from the Respect Life Program):
- the death penalty and Divine Mercy
- end-of-life care Caring for Each Other, Even Unto Death by Marie Hillard
- infertility treatments in line with Church teaching Hope for Married Couples Who Want to Have a Child by John T. Bruchalski, MD, FACOG
- sexual trafficking
- population control Make Room for People by Steven W. Mosher
- depression and suicide among youth
- the promise of pro-life youth The Promise of Pro-Life Youth by Megan Breen and Samuel Vasquez
Here are two links to the USCCB website that give complete details on the Respect Life Program.
Click here for an overview of the program and here for materials that can be downloaded.
What I find especially interesting about this year’s program is the emphasis on Our Lady of Guadalupe in the 2010 – 2011 Respect Life Program Liturgy Guide.
Page 10 of the Liturgy Guide is about the Miraculous Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The following is a quote from this article:
“Our Lady of Guadalupe has been honored by twenty-five popes. She has been formally declared Patroness and Mother of the Americas. Informally, she is honored as Patroness of Unborn Children because she appeared to Juan Diego as a pregnant woman and, in the seven years after the apparitions, approximately eight million Aztec people converted to Catholicism, and abandoned a culture of death that had practiced human sacrifice, including infant sacrifice.”
There is also a beautiful nine day Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Liturgy Guide. Day 3 has a short reflection on Our Lady’s Pregnancy.
Day Three
Mother of God, your ribboned sash identified you as a pregnant woman, a woman who bore the Christ Child to a world in darkness and who through two millennia has borne the light and love of Christ to a world that has largely rejected Him. May the love of your Son awaken a hymn of thanksgiving and praise in all pregnant mothers,as happened long ago in the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah.
The beginning of life, like the end of life, is shrouded in mystery. The human person at each end of this spectrum is drawn into it, turned about within it, slowly compelled to stare at it. Life’s full blown mystery beckons…..
Gen 3:19 “…till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Eccl 12:7 “…and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Job 1:21 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Mystery begs contemplation! And the unborn child is immersed in mystery… for in the dust, the human spirit, the nakedness, and yes in the “beckoning” – there is mystery abundant.
Compounding the metaphysical mystery of the unborn child’s life is the existential mystery of his/her passage through a nine month journey of incipiency, a phenomenal rapid growing unparalleled by any other human experience. Throughout this developing awesome growth the unborn child tastes, hears, sees, touches – and then even dreams of these experiences, and in a primitive self-reflective manner – ponders or wonders….
Psalm 139:13-16 “For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb…. Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”
In a sense, an unknown yearning sense, the unborn child longs for “the days that were formed for (this child)”…”every one of them”… This is more than a mere instinct for survival – this is the holy Will of his/her Creator that beckons the unborn child onward. A primordial hope welling up within the unborn child’s maturing heart as it timidly images the Great Heart of God.
Birth! The newborn scrambles onto the human stage post haste. Humanity, Beauty and Creation embrace the child! Within the newborn heart the engine of Hope draws the child from disorientation to expectation! And from without, human Love carries this newborn contemplative through the mystery of those early days…!
One of the greatest Pro – Life figures of the twentieth century – in fact, perhaps the greatest – was Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a Paris geneticist who discovered the cause of Down’s Syndrome and who worked tirelessly for its cure, and who traversed the globe repeatedly to speak on behalf of unborn children.
There is now in France a Jerome Lejeune Foundation, and its President, Jean-Marie Mene once said the following about Lejeune:
“Lejeune wasn’t afraid of mystery, he saw the promise it contains and tasted its sweetness. His faith and hope were the foundation that sustained him and he accepted the mystery with a smile on his face. The mystery made him stronger and brought him peace, because the truth he was looking for was just another name for beauty and love. It wasn’t an attack but an invitation to go beyond the tangible world in steadfast confidence that comes from the light we pray for….He knew that he lived in an order miraculously established by love and not in a world of tyranny of sheer chance…”
His was a science for Good, for him human DNA was a sign of a tremendous dignity buried within the heart of every human person, that is, the dignity of beings created in the likeness and image of God. When he approached his research, it was with respect for persons and Creation generally, and with serious purpose. Jean-Marie Mene recalls that Lejeune would say that: “medicine was his true vocation and that he became a scientist simply out of necessity”.
Too many scientists today have the wrong view of human life, seeing it as a thing to be manipulated rather than a sacred mystery to be respected and served. Lejeune stands out as a reminder that human life is a gift and mystery. Every person needs to discover both their own dignity and the sacredness of all human life, and live in such a way as to honor both. When scientists neglect these simple truths about human life they exercise Bad science, a science that manipulates rather than serves.
There should be a higher purpose to scientific inquiry, but to get to that higher purpose we need faith and grace. May God bless our world with holy scientists; scientists who fear God but aren’t “afraid of mystery”.
The strong manly apostle, St. Paul, had a tender side to him and revealed it, from time to time, to his “children in the faith”. For example, in letters to the churches of Corinth and Philippi, he speaks about writing to them with tears (II Cor 2:4. Phil 3:18). But one of his better known quotes advises: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).
Christ Himself is the model for this. St. John the Evangelist describes a very emotional scene following the death of Lazarus, when Mary the sister of Lazarus falls on the ground weeping before Jesus, and her friends and neighbors are around her weeping as well. John tells us that Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled”. Then He asks where the body is laid, and when the people say “Lord, come and see” – Jesus breaks down and weeps. We are told that this is the shortest verse in the entire Bible: “Jesus wept” (Jn11:35).
Over the past few decades, billions of tears have been shed for unborn children. We can speculate that mothers have been the primary source of these rivers of tears simply because they are so close to unborn children, their lives more sensitized to tinier lives hidden within their bodies, their hearts listening for soft heartbeats signaling life close by.
Back in the early 1970’s, as the Pro – Life movement was quickening, there was a powerful photograph of a tiny unborn child removed as a result of an ectopic pregnancy – my recollection is that the people referred to it as “the teardrop baby”. The doctor who took the photo spoke about the remarkable effect this tiny unfortunate “unborn” child had on those present. But the image of an “unborn” baby naturally formed into a teardrop stopped people in their tracks.
Doctors tell us that unborn children feel pain (Watch Me Grow, by Professor Stuart Campbell, M.D., 2004). This is, of course, to state the obvious. 3D ultrasounds show unborn babies grimacing. Do they cry also?
Christ died for us, and no doubt He also shed tears during His Passion for us. In his Letter to the Galatians St. Paul speaks of “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). In effect, St. Paul is saying that Christ ‘died for me’. We can all say this with confidence. Likewise, each of us can say ‘Christ shed a tear for me’. Which also brings us back to the unborn children – Christ shed a tear for each unborn child and loves each one personally.
Divine tears and human tears are a part of our lives now. The tear Christ shed for me is His tear of Hope for me. Because a great sign of the New Jerusalem is that God Himself will be with us and “He will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes” (Rev 21:3-4).
“May Mary, Patroness of the United States, help us to heal from our differences and build a nation where the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a reality for all men and women, especially the unborn.” Archbishop Jose Gomez, Nov. 2008.
Archbishop Jose Gomez has been named as the new Archbishop of Los Angeles. There are many reasons to rejoice in his appointment – pro-lifer’s can rejoice that our new shepherd has a heart for the unborn and the life issues of our time.
Here are links to some of his respect life columns, sermons and writings.
Homily Respect Life Mass January 20, 2007
Some Reflections on End of Life Issues October 8, 2008
In Response to House Speaker Pelosi’s Remarks Concerning Abortion August 24, 2008
Truth, Freedom and Abortion October 10, 2008
Voters must know stances on ‘life’ issues October 29, 2008
Archbishop Gomez: Life Issues Not simply ‘Religious’ October 30, 2008
The Dignity of a Person: hopes and challenges January 16, 2009
Official Statement: Health Care Reform, in order to be just, must respect all life July 22, 2009
Bioethics, Health Care, and Catholic Teaching September 25, 2009
Catholic Church supports morally sound scientific research
A will to live: Clear Answers on End of Life Issues (68 page booklet)
Most Reverend Jose Gomez
“Vessel of the Preborn Jesus in Watercolor” by Lea Marie Ravotti
Last week, we had a post about St. Louise de Marillac’s chaplet to Unborn Jesus. Amazingly, there is a new apostolate that has just formed with a similar idea to St. Louise’s. A few months ago we became aware of this new apostolate. This apostolate encourages Christians to make rosaries while praying the Joyful Mysteries and meditating on Preborn Jesus. These prayers would be said for mothers with unplanned pregnancies.
How did this originate? Bernie Conklin tells the story:
“It started in the spring of 2009 after completing the 33 day St. Louis de Montfort consecration to Jesus through Mary. A practicing OBGYN I know mentioned to me that a girl was considering an abortion. I told her that I would pray a rosary for the young girl and after seeing her baby on a sonogram, this young mother chose life for her child. Isn’t that a beautiful miracle?
This incident lead me to begin discerning about creating a ministry where cord rosaries, using knots instead of beads, could be made and prayed. Then, the mother with an unplanned pregnancy could be given one of these rosaries as a token of love. The following thoughts kept coming to me, ‘ We meditate on Jesus as the Risen Savior, the Crucified Lord, a Babe in the manger, but not as Preborn Jesus in the womb!’ I thought it would be enlightening if people could visualize Jesus’ presence in Mary’s womb. So as a favor to me for my birthday in July one of my sons sketched the image of Preborn Jesus.”
Here is the image of Preborn Jesus that he drew.
At this point Bernie prayed:
“Lord, this is a beautiful image of You in the womb. It is estimated at about $50.00 to enlarge it onto an 18×24 foam board, which seemed like a lot. If you want this done, I know You’ll open a window.”
And here is how our Lord answered her prayer:
“I had cleaned this patient’s teeth a few times before, but on this day in July when I was done with his cleaning, he placed money in my hand and complimented my work. Well, you certainly don’t tip your hygienist, but after a few rounds of back and forth he curled my hand around the money and left, yelling, ‘Merry Christmas’ as he went out the door of our office.
As my eyes fell upon the $50 bill, I recalled my prayer from the night before…‘If you want this done, I know You’ll open a window.’
Of course I immediately had the image of the Preborn Jesus enlarged and since then it has been at pregnancy centers, the ‘Truth Booth’ at the Butler Farm Show, an abortion clinic in Pittsburgh and at church functions.”
She adds: ” Presently, we are making the variegated pink and blue cord rosaries with a medal of Baby Jesus attached. As the rosary is made, the ‘Joyful Mysteries’ of the rosary are prayed. Meditation on the image of Preborn Jesus in the womb is central to this devotion. The rosary is a gift to the mother as well as her child.”
Recently Lea Ravotti, an artist from Pittsburgh, completed the watercolor after seeing the original sketch that Bernie’s son drew. They have worked together to distribute pamphlets that encourage others to take up this devotion. The pamphlets are beautifully illustrated with both images. Also included in the pamphlet is a poem from Preborn Jesus to the mother with child.
If you want to obtain one of these pamphlets you can email Preborn Jesus Ministry at:
PrebornJesusMinistry@zoominternet.net
or visit their website
Filed under: Pro-life
I received this email today from a wonderful pro-life Priest urging me to call my congressman. He listed 10 House representatives who he thinks it would be especially effective to call. I would urge you to call your House representative even if they are not listed below. Please pass this on….
Dear family and friends,
As you probably know, the US House of Representatives is getting ready to cast its final vote on the health care reform bill. The current version contains massive funding for abortion with our tax dollars. There are 10 key representatives whom I invite you to call today to express your opinion. My message has been: “Please, do not coerce me into paying for abortions with my tax dollars.”
The 10 representatives are:
Rep. Steve Driehaus (OH) 202-225-2216, 513-684-2723 Fax: (202) 225-3012
Rep. Brian Baird (WA) – 202-225-3536, 360-695-6292 Fax: (202) 225-3478
Rep. Jason Altmire (PA) – 202-225-2565, 724-226-1304 Fax: 202-226-2274
Rep. Jim Cooper (TN) – 202-225-4311, 615-736-5295 Fax: 202-226-1035
Rep. John Boccieri (OH) – 202-225-3876, 330-489-4414 Fax: (202) 225-3059
Rep. Mike Arcuri (NY) – 202-225-3665, 315-793-8146 Fax: (202)225-1891
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH) 202-225-4146, 419-259-7500 FAX: (202) 225-7711
Rep. Bart Gordon (TN) 202-225-4231, 615-896-1986 Fax: (202) 225-6887
Rep. Brad Ellsworth (IN) 202-225-4636, 812-465-6484 Fax: (812) 422-4761
Rep. Charlie Wilson (OH) 202-225-5705, 740-376-0868 Fax: (202) 225-5907
The first phone number is their Washington office; if busy, you can try their state number. (Note: we have added the fax number in case you have a hard time getting through by phone.)
I urge you to call between today and tomorrow, since they plan to finalize this voting by this Saturday. Thank you once again for speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak, the least amongst us, the unborn.
Fr. Alfred Cioffi
If you can’t get through – you can also email your representative at this link:
Friday, March 5th, 2010
RADIO INTERVIEW
with Al Kresta at Ave Maria Radio
George Peate, M.T.S., will be interviewed about his book, Unborn Jesus Our Hope this Friday, March 5th by Al Kresta who broadcasts with Ave Maria Radio.
The show airs from 4-6 Eastern Standard Time and George will be interviewed at the beginning of the program from 4 – 4:30 pm Eastern Standard Time (1-1:30 pm Pacific). The Al Kresta show is also carried by EWTN radio and Sirius radio network.
LATER IN THE SHOW, CARDINAL ARINZE WILL BE LIVE IN THE STUDIO WITH AL KRESTA – IT WILL BE A FASCINATING INTERVIEW.
To find a radio station near you that carries this program or to listen to the show on your computer click here.
Filed under: Pro-life
This may be surprising, but in the last six months I have encountered the issue of medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those in the dying stage of life, on three separate occasions.
I want to discuss one of these times in which the person I spoke with did not come at the issue from an overtly spiritual or moral perspective, but rather spoke about it from a genuinely human perspective and demonstrated a commonsense gut reaction to the issue.
Last fall, I attended a luncheon for health insurance professionals and as you can imagine at such meetings the health care bill was a topic of discussion. A woman sitting at my table brought up Sarah Palin’s statement about death panels and stated that this was already happening.
She went on to recount the story of her sister’s death. Her sister had cancer and was told that she had about two months to live. She was told that Medicare would no longer pay for hospital care that included nutrition and hydration care. Medicare however would pay for hospice care which would not continue medically assisted nutrition and hydration care and without these her life expectancy was reduced to one or at most two weeks. This woman pointed out that since her sister’s family did not have the financial means to pay for hospital care they reluctantly chose hospice care. She ended her commentary with “It really stank.”
My impression was that this woman was not a Catholic or Christian, and the family did not pursue all of the alternatives, but her reaction to the situation was profoundly human and true. This was not the right way to die.
With this in mind, I decided that I would put a lot of links that might help the Catholic better understand the mind of Christ and the Church on this issue.
First of all the Church considers nutrition and hydration even when medically assisted, ordinary not extraordinary care. The following links are helpful in understanding this teaching.
The most concise statement that I have found on this issue was in the Guide to Health Care Directives on the North Dakota Catholic Conference of Bishops website – click here to download these directives. Here is the statement from these directives on this issue:
There should be a strong presumption in favor of providing a person with nutrition (food) and hydration (water), even if medically assisted. Providing nutrition and hydration should be considered ordinary care since it serves a life-preserving purpose and the means of supplying food and water are relatively simple and – barring complications – generally without pain. Exceptional situations may exist in which this is not the case, such as when a person is no longer able to assimilate nourishment, or when death is so imminent that withholding or withdrawing food and water will not be the actual cause of death. In no case should food or water be removed with the intent to cause death.
Here are a few more websites that are helpful:
Sister Paula Vandegaer who runs International Life Services also has a website on end of life issues:
Many hospice organizations have lost their original mission – here is an organization that is trying to preserve the original intent of hospice.
Hospice Patients Alliance (preserving the original mission of hospice)
Rita Marker has a good website on the issue of Euthanasia from a pro-life perspective.
Luke 18:1-8 The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge
A few years ago I had a situation happen to me that was rather funny. I had been praying for a family member who needed to change. I actually had prayed about this situation for over nine years. I finally got a bit frustrated and started to complain to God about it – I reminded him about the widow and the unjust judge. I pointed out to him that I had been praying for nine years and this situation hadn’t changed. One week later, through an unusual set of circumstances this person revealed to me that they had made the change I was praying for – a year earlier – but for their own private reasons never told anyone.
I know that many of us are frustrated about the situation in our country over abortion. We pray fervently, we wonder why! But we need to pray and keep praying. There is a new project called Luke 18:1 (yes, the parable mentioned above.) Click here to see their website.
What they want to do is begin a prayer campaign on March 25, 2010 (the feast of the Annunciation, when Our Lord was conceived in Mary’s womb). They want people to sign up to pray for an end to abortion. The idea is that individuals would sign up for a 20 minute period during the year and that hopefully they would get enough people so that someone was praying at all times during the year to end abortion. I urge you to check out the website.
The following article was written by Veteran Rockford pro-life witness Kevin Rilott. It was first published in the Rockford Pro-life Initiative. Some of you may recall the shocking video that detailed the happenings at the Rockford Abortion Facility.
One of the saddest lines in all of human history is “and there was no room for them in the inn.” Humanity could not find a place for it’s God and savior in the world that God Himself created.
In our city of Rockford we say weekly to approximately twenty of God’s children “there is no room for you in the inn of our hearts” and these twenty children’s lives are brutally destroyed at the Northern Illinois Woman’s Center. We again reject the gift of God’s life and love.
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Luke 1:39-44
When we pray at the Rockford abortion mill we join the Blessed Virgin Mary as she visited her cousin Elizabeth by serving those who need us. We can be the cause of these forgotten and betrayed children’s joy as Mary and Jesus were for John the Baptist. Every aborted child will know when they reach the heart of God that they have experienced human love on this earth. Someone cared enough to stand in the cold and pray for them, plead for their lives, and offer love and support to their mothers.
If here and now we stand publicly in solidarity with the unborn and their mothers in the endless eternity that all will face we will know every time we have prayed for and loved God’s precious infants in the womb we gave them cause to “leap for joy” in their mothers womb because they have experienced the love and presence of their Christian family at the place of their death in Rockford.
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:16-18
Jesus was threatened with a “furious” attempt to kill Him when he was still in the womb and an infant. Herod mocked God and murdered innocent children and we see the same “furious” assult on God and innocent human life at the Rockford abortion mill with countless hate filed displays and signs mocking God and the murder of well over 50,000 of God’s children.
When Jesus and Mary were in danger St. Joseph listened to the Angel when he was told, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” We join St. Joseph in His love and protection for an innocent child facing death and His mother every time we pray at the Rockford abortion mill. Countless times the prayers and presence of Christians at the Northern Illinois woman’s Center have been able to “take the child and his mother and flee to safety” away from a place where the city of Rockford kills it’s children.
This Christmas and as long as this killing center is open in Rockford please join Mary, Joseph, and many of your Christian sisters and brothers as we pray for and do what we can to protect these “holy innocents” facing death at the hands of our culture of death.
UNBORN WORD of the day 