It is better to Light One Candle than to Curse The Darkness
Here is a small list of good signs for the pro-life movement.
On December 30, 2008, the U.S. Bishops released a survey showing that most Americans support laws limiting or regulating abortion. Click here to see the survey.
A recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows that only 35 percent of those surveyed approve of the President’s controversial move ‘allowing funding to overseas family planning groups that provide abortions.’ Fifty-eight percent disapproved of this executive order. Click here to see this poll.
Missouri, Oklahoma Legislators File Resolutions Against FOCA Abortion Bill Click here to read about this.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a national postcard campaign urging Congress to maintain widely-supported pro-life policies and to oppose the federal funding and promotion of abortion. Launched on January 24-25, the campaign is being coordinated through the USCCB’s partner organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA). Click here to read more. Click here for instructions on how to get involved.
Many pro-life groups are fighting FOCA . One group that is leading the way is Americans United for Life (a really great group that has a great website for information on how to stand up for the unborn.)
Click here for the website.
This following article is a good short readable summary of FOCA ( The Freedom of Choice Act).
A Radical Attempt to Prematurely End Debate Over Abortion by Denise M. Burke
Click here to sign AUL’s fight FOCA petition. For other action alerts from AUL click here.
Another really creative idea circulating the internet is called the Red Envelope Project. They are calling on pro-lifers to send 50 million red envelopes to the White House. Each envelope representing a baby killed by abortion in this country. Click here to learn more.
There are tens of thousands of pro-life groups around the world. This is cause for hope. We are not alone when we stand up for the unborn.
Priests for Life has a great resource list of Pro-life groups around the world (including the U.S.). Click here to go to their Links To International Pro-Life Community page.
God is Pro-life A Catholic Mom in Hawaii
But the answer is always sure to come.
Nor a breath of holy desire
Poured out in prayer to God
Will ever be lost.
And fall in showers of mercy on you
And on all those for whom you work and pray.
Filed under: Pro-life, Quotes from Great Christians, The Incarnation, Unborn Jesus
Our Lady of Expectation
“Let it be it done to me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38 )
St Bernadine calls these words “A flame of transforming love”.
Mother St. Paul said of these words:
“It was a transformation for the world. This word of Mary’s, by which she gave her consent to God’s plan of Redemption, changed the face of the whole world. It began a new era A.D. instead of B.C. It settled the moment of the arrival of the ” fullness of time ” (Gal. 4.:4) – of God’s time. As a result of it, God was already tabernacling among men. The leaven of the Gospel, which was to leaven the whole world, was already beginning to work. Mary s word produced a transformation in the world, and though it “knew Him not,” it was never the same world again.” Mother St. Paul, Mater Christi, 1918
Let us ponder the power and grace that flooded the world when Christ was conceived in Mary’s womb. At the one cell stage, Christ fundamentally changed the world.
Christ wanted to show humanity how special that one cell stage is by fundamentally changing the world at that beginning point of His Incarnate life.
He raised that moment in each person’s life to a dignity and beauty that we will never fully comprehend.
The Culture of Death, like darkness, tries to encroach upon this light, this new illuminated life to extinguish it.
Let us pray that our world will say the same transforming words for each newly conceived child that Mary said for Jesus.
“Let is be done to (us) according to Thy word.” (Luke 1:38 )
From the ByzanTEENS at the March for Life this year, an icon of the Visitation, showing not only Mary and Elizabeth, but John the Baptist and Jesus in their mothers’ wombs. Notice that John is kneeling and Jesus is blessing him. Photo and caption from Political Housewyf.
The One who is the Light of the World – Lumen Gentium – is also the ‘King’ in the Kingdom of God.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it.” Jn 1:4-5
But what exactly is at the center of the Culture of Life? Without a doubt the Church is instrumental in creating and maintaining a Culture of life. Ultimately it is Christ who is the Centerpoint of the Culture of Life, its very Source.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;
we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father…
And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.” Jn 1:14,16
The Culture of Life is a moral compass for the world of today. And our modern world desperately needs this compass! Christ asks each Christian each day; “Will you hold up this moral compass for your neighbor to see, for your community in its turbulent and often misguided searching?”
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand,
and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men…” Mt 5:14-16
Yet the Source of this Life, the Source of this Light is Christ! If you look carefully, ‘midst the Glory and the Grace of it all, you will see a young pregnant woman standing in the glistening shadows of God. She is Mary, and within her womb – at the very Heart of the Culture of Life – is the Unborn Christ Child, hands outstretched, His tiny hidden heart rapidly pulsing with Love…merciful…redeeming…purifying…Love!
Oldest Madonna della Misericordia in Venice, dated circa 1325 detail Academia, by Paolo Veneziano
Anonymous Prato, Madonna of childbirth, Prato, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
By coming into the world as a little unborn baby, and living that existence for nine months, Jesus sanctified the unborn state and the relationship between the unborn child and his parents, particularly the relationship with his mother. Day after day, month by month Jesus was nothing but an insignificant unborn baby. He chose this restricted unborn life to show the depths of God’s love for us. Perhaps the world can not understand nor appreciate it, but we Christians must!
The modern world would have us judge unborn babies superficially by our limited abilities of observation; what we can observe them doing, learning, achieving and mastering. Not so with God. He sees us for who we are, rather than what we can or can not do. As the philosophical maxim states; “action follows being”. When God appeared to Moses He revealed His identity by stating: “I AM WHO AM.” So too, it is more important that we discover Who Unborn Jesus is rather than what things He might have done as an unborn baby.
And the same is true for all unborn babies. God designed “personhood” to be a secret core mystery of life to be discovered by oneself and others on nature’s terms, not ours. God hides the “unborn person” in the womb, almost in a suspended state of love that is, suspended between God’s creative love for the new creature and the mother’s nurturing love until the beauty of the infant’s physical development is sufficient to reflect the fullness of the infant soul. As one professor of pastoral theology has noted “awe is intrinsic to parenting”. Months of waiting contributes to the sense of awe that parents experience through pregnancy and birth. And awe is also an essential element in respecting human life as both gift and blessing.
Parents who, respecting nature and nature’s God, patiently wait for the birth of their child, grow themselves in that very virtue patience that they will need most in the upbringing of the child. The “unborn person” is literally a “buried treasure” of personhood and personality but, like wine, needs to age. Such a respectful attitude was that held by Mary and Joseph during the months of the second and third trimesters. It should be the attitude of all expectant parents.
From Unborn Jesus Our Hope by George Peate,
January 22 In America
It’s “that day” again.
Like any other day except…
From the bench they attacked us,
Those Solomon impostors
Knowing not when to cease.
Their wisdom aborted, their justice inept.
Morality’s sweet milk tainted-
The sacred standard of life succumbed.
Even the children seem lifeless today.
But on the horizon lies March twenty-five.
The feast of all hope and Christ alive!
His Incarnation to answer “bad justice” –
God’s Child is with us!
And in nine months only
We can embrace this tiny mercy.
December twenty-five, I will bend my knee
With the true wise men three,
Not to man’s injustice, but to a little baby.
By George A. Peate
Filed under: Pro-life
Pontius Pilate washing his hands
“I am personally opposed to abortion, but…”
Thousands of politicians around the world over the last number of decades, since the legalization of abortion, have borrowed heavily from the game plan of Pontius Pilate:
Pilate “took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood; see to it yourselves’ (Mt 27:24). Translation 2,000 years later: “I am innocent of this righteous unborn baby’s blood; exercise your freedom of choice”.
Two days before the inauguration, our local Ventura County, CA newspaper, The Star, featured a front page article about Catholic, Doug Kmiec, the one time conservative Republican, turned avid Obama supporter. The paper portrayed him as a visionary and martyr for truth. Quoting Kmiec about the rejection he has been receiving from conservatives: “We’re instructed as Christians to turn the other cheek. When the cheek keeps getting whacked, you feel the sting”.
On the abortion issue, Kmiec – who appeared a few months ago at the local Catholic seminary in a widely publicized event at which he was the only featured speaker – defends Obama: “Though Obama supports a woman’s right to choose, he’s personally opposed to abortion, Kmiec said…”
In this “personal opposition” Obama joins a long line of infamous “Christian” politicians before him who have freely chosen to write the unborn off! Enter Joe Biden, who has served 36 years in the Senate, presiding over the massive assault on the unborn from his safe Senate seat, while his conscience took a back seat. (It should be noted that he was first sworn into the Senate on January 3, 1973 – just 20 days before the Supreme Court legalized abortion.)
But few can equal the audacious unrepentant Obama, as when he flippantly told moderator Rev. Rick Warren at Saddleback Church during the Presidential Campaign “That’s above my pay grade” in response to the question about when human life begins. A debater’s slight-of-tongue! A false humility, behind which the cagey debater can dodge momentarily! Claiming ignorance as a cover for one’s duplicitous acts! Reading between the lines: if it is above his “pay grade”, and he’s going to be President of the United States then no one else should presume to know the answer either! In other words, “it’s above everyone’s pay grade” so it can’t be known, and no one is culpable. Treacherous trickery!
We consider now the last two verses of this beautiful Psalm, verses 5-6.
In the early Church, Psalm 23 was associated with the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism – verse 2 “beside the still waters”, Confirmation – verse 5 “thou anointest my head with oil”, Eucharist – verse 5 “Thou preparest a table before me”. Further, it even seemed to comment on one’s new life in the Church and one’s promised life hereafter: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (verse 6). It seems like a prophetic Ecclesiastical Psalm.
But let’s step back and look at two other simple themes running through this Psalm: the Path of Righteousness and the Will of God.
THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: “he leadeth me” (v.2), “he leadeth me” (v.3), “in the paths of righteousness” (v.3), “I walk…thou art with me” (v.4), “shall follow me” (v.6). Psalm 23 describes a journey of faith, a journey along a path which leads us to a place; the Church. Nature reveals God’s creative hand to us (v.2), but proceeding we experience the tender hand of God as “He restoreth my soul” (v.3) and then comforts me (v.4). By the time we arrive at His Eucharistic liturgy, “He preparest a table before me” (v.5), almost like a servant – reminding us of Jesus washing the feet of His apostles at the Last Supper. And Jesus did prepare the table for them at that last supper as He changed the bread into His Body and the wine into His Blood – this was thoughtful loving preparation. So the “waters” of verse 2 have now been changed into wine “my cup runneth over”, and within the Church, into His blood. “He prepares the mystical table” as the early Church Father, St. Gregory of Nyssa, commented concerning verse 5.
THE WILL OF GOD: “The Lord is my shepherd” tells us right away that we are sheep who must follow the Shepherd’s “will”. It is His tender-hearted will that we rest and eat in “green pastures” and rest and drink “the still waters” (v.2) because He intends to “restoreth” our souls. He wills that we represent Him even within the “valley of the shadow of death” (v.4) – today read “valley of the culture of death”. He protects us by being with us; “for thou art with me” (v.4). He is strong and mighty, inspiring His flock to witness to the truth of His Culture of Life “for his name’s sake” (v.3). Verses 5-6 speak of the abundant blessings which the Lord intends for us; sacramentally, mystically, eternally, first in this world, then in the next. “Mercy and goodness shall follow me” within the Mystical Body of Christ, as God wills.
The Good Shepherd also entrusted Peter with this shepherding tradition and mandate: “Feed my lambs”, “Tend my sheep”, “Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15,16,17).
The second of three reflections on Psalm 23, considers verse 4.
The last line of verse 3 – “he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake” – brings us to “walking the walk” in verse 4:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Are we surprised that righteousness has led us into a certain element of risk and danger? Confronting evil in the world has become difficult. 21st century consequences – that is, problematic and unexpected ones – are now multiplying. What seemed simple has become much more complicated, partly due to the sins and weaknesses of the Good Shepherd’s followers, and partly due to the moral shambles of modern civilization.
We are walking through the sinister valley of the “culture of death”! But God is with us – that changes everything! “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). So the Christian, that is, the follower of the Good Shepherd, should not be afraid. Just stay close to Him, don’t wander off…
King David, the author of this Psalm, was a shepherd and later a king. Christ the Lord is also both Shepherd and King. But when Christ was coming into the world it was an awesome fearsome thing. First, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zechariah. His first words were: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah…(Lk 1:13). Then Gabriel appeared to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!…Do not be afraid, Mary…(Lk 1:28,30). Later, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife…(Mt 1:20). And finally in the hills of Bethlehem an angel of the Lord came to the shepherds watching their flocks: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy…(Lk 2:10).
He is Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” (Isa 7:14). So, as verse 4 tells us: “I will fear no evil: for (God) art with me”…God is with us.
“Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. The shepherd’s rod and staff remind us of the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs” (Gen 49:10). The rod (scepter-like) is for exercising power by striking an enemy, defending against evil. The staff is for steadying one on his journey, leaning upon it for comforting rest.
So the Messiah would be Emmanuel, “God with us”, a Shepherd King guiding and protecting us. His sign is a cross of two beams, much like a rod and staff intersecting and fastened together.With the cross He has already defeated death and evil. From our 21st century vantage point we look out to Nazareth and Bethlehem and we see Him coming: The Shepherd King of the Culture of Life.
See also: Another reflection on Psalm 23.
Filed under: Pro-life
Agitation for abortion-on-demand in the United States revved up in the 1960’s and by 1967 at least one pro life group had been established in Colorado. There were definitely valiant informal pro-life efforts earlier than 1967, but as to formal organizations, we are not aware of any group before 1967.
So it has been 42 years of organized struggle on behalf of the unborn and others whose right to life has been challenged and stripped away. 42 years of prophetic Pro-Life witness in America. These have been 42 tough years as society has slid headlong down a slope – once described as slippery, now a slope no longer, but simply a chasm, a culture of death, embraced by a majority of politicians and other dubious leaders, and wildly promoted by the mainstream media.
The prophetic witness of the Pro-Life movement shares in the inspiration of John the Baptist, who while yet an unborn baby bore witness to the Unborn Christ Child by leaping for joy in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:41-44)! So the prophetic voice of the Pro-Life / Culture of Life message is a childlike voice, reflecting a childlike spirit and a child-friendly heart! As the hidden child leaps in the mother’s womb, so hidden hope leavens – stirs up – the spirit of true prophetic witness within the Pro-Life heart!
Pro – Life Services to pregnant women are prophetic in 3 respects. 1.) They are offered through and with Gospel values & virtues. 2.) These are services which would normally be provided by mainstream secular health care – but are actively opposed by that industry. 3.) These services are a moral contradiction to the society in which we live, hence they are a sign of God at work.
Pro – Life Educational & Political outreach on behalf of, and to teens, pregnant women and society in general, is prophetic for numerous reasons. But we can minimally mirror the prior points made above. 1.) It is a voice born of genuine concern and respect for the right to life of unborn children and the right to basic information of society at large. 2.) It is a critical message which should be delivered by media, educators, religious leaders and others, but instead is purposely muted and distorted by these negligent bodies. 3.) It is a voice – like John the Baptist’s – of one crying out in the wilderness, a message rejected by the powerful elite, hence a sign of contradiction.
Jesus has words of encouragement to the Pro-Life movement for the year 2009:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy…
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God…
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt 5:4-12).
The picture above is a mural on the Visitation Church in Ain Karim on the outskirts of Jerusalem which commemorates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth and the Magnificat
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah. Luke 1:39
Why did Mary decide to go to the home of Elizabeth? Undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, who had come upon her (Lk 1:35), unfolded the reason for the angel’s reference to Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Her state, as she considered what she should do was described by St. Peter Julian Eymard:
“The Word was in Mary’s womb. He inspired His Mother to visit Elizabeth; Mary carried to John his Master and King. John could not come, for his mother was too old to undertake that journey; Jesus Christ went to him. He did the same for us: we could not go to God; God came to us.”
Most likely Mary welcomed those three or four days of traveling to visit her cousin Elizabeth as it afforded her a great deal of time to reflect and pray and to sort out in her own mind what had happened. … Underlying all her thoughts was a poignant sense of duty and mission – the messianic mission. As Cardinal Berulle (1575-1629) explains, her unique role was underway:
“The Virgin is involved with Jesus and she is the only one in the whole world involved with Jesus. Thus she is the only one in the whole world adoring the mystery of the Incarnation, which was brought about on earth for the earth but unknown to the earth. She is the only one adoring Jesus. The more that she is the only one captivated by such a great subject, the greater is her involvement. She is devoted to it with all her faculties. All her senses are brought to bear on it, for it is a tangible mystery and tangible within her. All her senses should pay homage to her God made tangible for human nature. Her whole mind is concentrated on it. And the Spirit of Jesus, which enlivens this little divinized body, enlivens the spirit and body of the Virgin as well, through grace, love and a holy, gentle influence.”
Excerpt from Unborn Jesus Our Hope
The Icon of Our Lady of ‘Childbirth’ or Procreation and Mothering. Russian Orthodox Church. This wood-mounted, foil icon depicts the Theotokos with Christ in her womb. It is customarily given to expecting mothers to remind them to pray to the Theotokos for a safe, healthy childbirth.
On November 24, LifeNews.com reported that the Russian city of Novorossiysk was ‘starting a campaign called a “Week Without Abortions.” The idea is to temporarily prohibit abortions in the city and encourage couples to have children in an effort to combat the growing underpopulation problem’.
In a September 20, 2008 Los Angeles Times article, Abortion foes begin to make their case in Russia, Megan K. Stack reports that “A fledgling anti-abortion movement is beginning to stir in Russia. Driven by a growing discussion of abortion as a moral issue and, most of all, by a government worried about demographics, doctors and politicians are quietly struggling to lower what is believed to be one of the world’s highest abortion rates.”
According to the article the following pro-life changes are making their way into Russian society:
- The government recently imposed new restrictions on the procedures after the 12th week of pregnancy, and toughened the language of a waiver women must sign before terminating a pregnancy.
- Late-term abortions used to be easily accessible on “social” grounds: A woman merely had to visit a social worker, complain that she wouldn’t be able to raise a child, and she could collect a stamped waiver. These days, exceptions are available only for extreme circumstances, such as the sudden death of a husband or a medical emergency.
- Many gynecologists have launched their own small efforts to persuade patients to go through with their pregnancies. Although law requires parental consent only for girls younger than 16, many doctors boast that they involve the parents of any patient younger than 19. Gynecologist Natalia Smirnova even stated: “This is the decision of a lifetime. It’s very important for me to show them the ultrasound picture of their fetuses. This stops most of them.”
- Natalia Karpovich, who is pregnant with her fifth child and is a leader of the State Duma committee focused on family, women and children, is one of the Russian lawmakers who doesn’t think that abortion should be so casual. The spiritual position,” she said, “should be that this is murder and the woman who does this commits a sin.” She is pushing for media messages that warn women about the consequences of abortion such as infertility and damage to the body. She also supports new measures meant to encourage childbirth by paying cash bonuses and opening new day-care centers across the country.
- What is most surprising is that some of the doctors who used to perform abortions are now the ones trying to dissuade women from getting them. One woman, Marina Chechneva, a former abortionist, is now devoting her time to writing magazine articles on fetal development, something she knows well from years of handling aborted fetuses. She says she feels a responsibility for unborn children, and writes articles for women seeking abortion who do not realize “that what they’re doing is already a murder.”
Why is Russia rethinking its long held liberal abortion stand? The Rand Corporation has some interesting articles that give a back story to these new developments in Russia.
In a 1997 article published by the Rand Corporation entitled Russia’s Demographic “Crisis”: How Real Is It? the author’s make some interesting observations:
- Recent demographic trends in Russia have caused widespread public concern.
- Russia is experiencing unusually high death rates from non natural causes, many related to alcoholism.
- The Russian fertility rate has declined to among the world’s lowest, while its abortion rate is the highest.
- For the first time in Russian history, the annual number of deaths has exceeded the number of births.
- The population is aging rapidly–a trend that will accelerate over the next two decades.
In a 2001 Rand Corporation article entitled: Dire Demographic Trends Cast a Shadow on Russia’s Future, Vladmir Putin is quoted: “Year by year, we, the citizens of Russia, are getting fewer and fewer. . . . We face the threat of becoming a senile nation.” The article goes on to state: “At the same time, the fertility rate has declined to among the world’s lowest, while a high rate of abortion poses significant health problems. Deaths have exceeded births since 1992.”
In a 2002 article published also by Rand Corporation, Julie DaVanzo and Clifford A. Grammich point out that: “Like many Communist or post-Communist nations, Russia has one of the highest abortion rates in the world. These rates have created a legacy of significant medical problems. Complications from abortion are the cause of more than one in four maternal deaths in Russia. Overall, two in three Russian women aborting their pregnancies suffer health complications as a result of the procedure, further stressing the overburdened Russian health care system. Abortion has also led to high rates of secondary sterility in Russia; an estimated one in ten women is left sterile by the procedure.”
And finally click here to read another good article on this topic: Russia Rethinks Abortion: What About America? by Albert Mohler ,(president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). One of the points Dr. Mohler makes is: “Some credit this change to the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church after seven decades of official Soviet atheism and repression. The Church has clearly influenced some key political figures and may play an even larger role in the future. A pro-life movement is now emerging in Russia, and these restrictions are a sign of its success.”
To that I add, ‘Our Lady of Childbirth, please pray for us.’
A photograph of the sculpture Mary Full of Life renders it larger than life. The image appears on a billboard over Old Town at the intersection of West Burnside Street and Northwest Third Avenue.
In an article entitled: Old Town billboard of pregnant Mary aims to bear hope, Nancy Haught begins:
“An image of a very pregnant Mary, the mother of Jesus, looks down on Old Town from a billboard on West Burnside Street and Northwest Third Avenue. In the weeks before Christmas, she is a reminder of the approaching celebration of her son’s birth.” Click here to read the rest of the story.
Recently, Valerie Aschbacher, (who commissioned the sculpture and put up the billboard) got in touch with us to share her beautiful website : Mary Full of Life. In her email she said: ‘It appears Mary has been “speaking” to quite a few of us…..This artwork began in 2004.’
Click here to see this wonderful sculpture and the prayer that Valerie wrote artfully displayed and brought to life .
Let us pray.
Holy Mary, Full of Life
The Word lives within you!
Blessed are you among all generations
Divine is The Son, in your womb, Jesus.
Humble Mary, Bearer of God
Show us, your children,
How we may be born into new life.
Amen.
Prayer by Valerie Aschbacher
“Three months Mary abode in Zachary s house, and all that time the flame of communicating love abode there too, burning ever more brightly within her. What a privilege for the house of Zachary! We read in Sacred History that once “the Ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite for three months; and the Lord blessed Obededom and all his household.” (2 Kings vi. 11.)
What then must have been the blessings bestowed on Zachary’s household, while Mary the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ abode there! ‘ Foederis area, ora pro nobis.’ Pray that we too may get the blessings of those who receive thee as their constant guest.” From Mater Christi : meditations on Our Lady (1920). Mother St. Paul
____________________________________________________________________
“Our Lady stayed with Elizabeth until John was born; that is the point of the ‘three months’; the gospel account is surely Mary’s personal recital. There were no maternity wards in those days, and Mary assisted at the birth of Elizabeth’s son.” From The Gospel Story by Ronald Knox and Ronald Cox, Sheed and Ward, 1958
What I love about this painting (see below) is that Mary is holding John the Baptist right after his birth. Of course, Jesus is also present at this birth in his mother’s womb.
The Birth of St. John the Baptist, Andrea di Nerio, c. 1350
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization by Mother Adela, SCTJM
During one of his visits to Mexico, Pope John Paul II said “No Mexican should dare to victimize the precious and sacred gift of life that grows in the womb.”
Sadly enough that all changed on April 24, 2007 when the Mexico City legislature approved a bill to make abortion legal during the first three months of pregnancy. On August 28, 2008 the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) upheld the law legalizing abortion in Mexico City through 12 weeks of pregnancy, rejecting a constitutional challenge.
But according to an article entitled “A Wake-up Call” by Sean Salai in The Catholic World Report there is still a great deal of hope for Mexico. Here are some points from the article:
-“The Supreme Courts ruling merely states the city’s legislation is constitutional and makes no provision for wider legalization measures.”
-Fr. Marco Bran Flores, S.J. from Mexico states:”…Mexico City exhibits a very different cultural environment…Mexico City’s liberal reputation is almost mythical throughout the country, and contrasts sharply with the conservatism of the other big cities. This law will not easily be duplicated in other parts of Mexico.”
-Mexican Bishops have come out strongly even telling lawmakers who voted for this law that they are automatically excommunicated.
– Rosalind Villasenor, a Mexican born lay minister who conducts abstinence retreats in the U.S. and Mexico points out: “I wouldn’t consider (the law) typical, Mexico is known to be protective of its culture, faith and values. There can’t be anything more important (to Mexican) than life.”
And one other point that the article made was:
-“This law will have little effect on the rest of Mexico and will only serve to galvanize the Mexican pro-life movement.”
And that is exactly what has happened – since the March 2007 Mexico City pro-abortion law was passed there have been many demonstrations for life in Mexico. Here are links that show the Mexican people standing up for life:
Mexico Pro-Life Advocates Will Protest Abortions Once They Begin April 25, 2007
Silent No More Pro-Life March, Mexico March 2007
40,000 march against abortion in Guadalajara May 11, 2007
Massive Mexican Protest for life on May 25 /2008
Mexico City Pilgrimage to Protest Abortion Law to be Held this Sunday “Pilgrimage for the Marvelous Gift of Life,” June 22.2008
Mexican Pro-Lifers to UN: Stop Murdering our Children Organization accuses United Nations of complicity in “genocide” against Mexicans July 16, 2008
Mexico Bells ordered to be rung as ‘sign of morning’ Aug 31, 2008
But there is even better news coming out of Mexico.
Last week, at the national meeting of the Mexican Bishops conference, they agreed to the following actions for the defense of life
- Prayer, Holy hours, Masses for life
- Teaching “Evangelium Vitae” everywhere
- Massive and permanent campaigns for life
- Promoting pro-life laws
- Creating pro-life and natural family planning committees at parish level.
Pro-lifer’s are also working hard on the political level to outlaw abortion in the rest of the country.
In order to prevent the attempt to legalize abortion at the national level Mexico needs 16 of its 31 states to protect human life in their constitutions. Since the Supreme Court ruling in August many of the Mexican States have been putting this legislation on a fast track. Following are the states that have either passed this legislation or are working on protecting human life in their constitutions:
- Sonora October, 2008 (with exceptions in case of rape, mother’s life, miscarriage)
- Baja California October, 2008 (no exceptions)
- Morelos November, 2008 (no exceptions)
- Chihuahua already had protections for life in their constitution since 1994.
- Last week the Governor of Veracruz has sent his State congress a bill to protect life from conception.
- Jalisco and Nuevo Leon, the two most important Mexican states after Mexico City, are on the verge of approving constitutional amendments that will establish the right to life of the unborn from the moment of conception.
- Also, last June Legislators in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which borders the United States, rejected an attempt to decriminalize abortion, according to the news agency Infonorte.
- Guanajuato and Jalisco each have proposed Constitutional amendments, but they still don’t have enough votes from PRI legislators to approve them, so they are waiting.
We should be encouraged and find inspiration in the Pro-life response of the Mexican people. Please remember them in your prayers. Thanks to Marcela Vaquera for giving us current information on the situation in Mexico.
- “If God seems at times to be slow in responding, it is because he is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. We well know that the long awaited gift is all the more precious for the delay in its being granted….Ask, seek, insist. Through the asking and seeking you will be better prepared to receive God’s gift when it comes. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for his greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart.” St. Augustine on prayer from Sermon 61: 6-7.
- A recent Marist poll commissioned by the Knights of Columbus again showed that — when presented with clear choices in a polling question — only 8% of Americans favor abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. The poll also found that 60% of Americans favor banning all abortions, or limiting them to the rare cases of danger to the mother’s life, rape or incest. Click here for poll results.
- The Catholic Bishops pledged (at their recent November meeting) the resources of the Church to mobilize the Catholic community to oppose FOCA and all other attempts to eliminate existing pro-life laws and policies. This will include a massive education and postcard campaign beginning in January, urging members of Congress to reject the abortion extremism of FOCA.
Here are some encouraging quotes from individual Bishops attending the recent Bishop’s meeting:
- “We have lost 50 times as many children in the last 35 years as we have lost soldiers in all the wars since the Revolution. Any bishop here would be willing, would consider it a privilege, to die tomorrow if it meant ending abortion,” he said. “We should dedicate the rest of our lives to taking any kind of criticism, whatever it is, to stop this horrible genocide.” Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hermann
- Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki said FOCA would have a “significant and adverse effect” and that bishops “need to be prepared in the face of increasingly militant threats to unborn life. The next step would be for federal law to require abortions by all hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, which we cannot do,” he said. “We’d need to consider taking the drastic step of closing our Catholic hospitals completely.”
- “One cannot compromise between the fire and the fire department, the fly and the fly swatter. There are things that don’t admit of compromise – and vile … intrinsic evil such as abortion do not admit us any such compromise.” Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska
- Bishop Joseph F. Martino said the bishops must concentrate on reaching out to Catholic politicians who disagree with them, even if they have to threaten excommunication in the same way that bishops in St. Louis and New Orleans threatened segregationist Catholic officials in 1947 and 1962.
Bishops warn Obama about abortion issue Will resist ‘culture of coercion’
Annunciation, Vittore Carpaccio Galleria Franchetti in the Ca d’Oro, Venice
“In working for the common good of our society, racial justice is one pillar of our social doctrine. Economic justice, especially for the poor both here and abroad, is another.
But the Church comes also and always and everywhere with the memory, the conviction, that the Eternal Word of God became man, took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, nine months before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This truth is celebrated in our liturgy because it is branded into our spirit. The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice.
If the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision that African Americans were other people’s property and somehow less than persons were still settled constitutional law, Mr. Obama would not be president of the United States. Today, as was the case a hundred and fifty years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good.”
Plenary Session Address by Cardinal George, 2008 Fall General Assembly of Bishops, Nov. 10-12.
UNBORN WORD of the day 