October 23, 2009
Here's where you can watch today's AMAZING 3-minute
video report, this time from Jacksonville, Florida:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=431
In this short clip, you'll see pastor Ed Martin,
local 40 Days for Life campaign coordinator, leading
a Jericho March -- marching seven times back and
forth between two abortion facilities as part of
their vigil -- during which a woman changed her mind
and chose life!
Hope you enjoy it! :-)
Well, it's Friday, and 40 Days for Life campaign
director Shawn Carney is on the road headed to New
York City -- a location described as "the abortion
capital of America."
That phrase is the title of a New York Magazine
article. It was published a few years ago, but the
story still paints an accurate picture of the uphill
battle pro-lifers face in the nation's largest city.
More than 100,000 abortions are performed in New York
City every year. There are almost three dozen
abortion facilities there.
To quote from the magazine article:
"In absolute terms, there are more abortions
performed on minors, more repeat abortions, and
more late abortions (over 21 weeks) in New York
City than anywhere else in the country. In parts of
the city, the ratio of abortions to births is one
to one."
Fortunately, people are willing to do something about
it. One of those people is Chris Slattery, who runs a
group of pregnancy resource centers and a variety of
other pro-life outreaches.
Chris is also helping lead 40 Days for Life campaigns
in two of New York's boroughs, Queens (where there
are two abortion clinics side by side) and The Bronx.
The New York City team just posted a marvelous slide
show of 40 Days for Life in action on the sidewalks
of America's abortion capital.
To see the slide show, visit:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=431
In each of the past 40 Days for Life campaigns in New
York City, through God's blessings, dozens of lives
have been saved from abortion through these sidewalk
efforts.
One New Yorker, who is known for his strong pro-life
stand, headed west this week -- and he stopped at the
40 Days for Life vigil in Kalispell, Montana.
Fr. Benedict Groeschel had traveled to Montana for
speaking engagements.
Karen in Kalispell said Fr. Groeschel's detour to the
vigil there was "unexpected and much appreciated."
Fr. Groeschel is a Franciscan friar who is familiar
in Catholic circles through his regular appearances
on the EWTN network.
To see a photo of Fr. Groeschel with 40 Days for Life
vigil participants in Kalispell, go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=431
While the abortion toll in New York City almost
defies belief, Fr. Groeschel's trip to the clinic in
Kalispell underscores the fact that abortion would
still be a tragedy even if it only claimed one life.
Abortion also remains a deadly reality in Ithaca, New
York (roughly a four-hour drive from New York City).
The very thought that abortions were being performed
in their community brought a small group of Cornell
University students out to pray at the 40 Days for
Life vigil recently.
A staff physician saw them -- and didn't like it. So
she went out to complain to the students that they
were "harassing" her customers. "Of course," said
Mary Anne in Ithaca, "they were very peaceful and
were doing no such thing."
The woman came out a second time to complain -- and
then a third. The last time, she told the students
she would call the police if they didn't leave.
"The students did better and went to the police
themselves," Mary Anne said. "The police said as long
as they were not cursing, threatening or following
people, that what they were doing was fine. We will
keep this physician in our prayers."
In cities both large and small, 40 Days for Life is
having an impact. The power of prayer is very real!
Here's today's devotional from Rev. J. Kirk van der
Swaagh, Pastor, Conservative Congregational Christian
Conference...
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DAY 31 INTENTION
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For the medical community, that the truth they know
about the human body may become awe and wonder at the
God who made it.
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SCRIPTURE
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Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And
in Your book they all were written, the days
fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of
them.
--Psalm 139:16
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REFLECTION by Rev. J. Kirk van der Swaagh
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Human beings -- God's tapestries.
Psalm 139 is a psalm that reveals the enormity and
otherness of God. His divine attributes are on
display: omniscience (2-4), omnipresence (7-12),
loving-kindness (17-18), justice (19-20),
righteousness (23-24), and omnipotence.
Yet, when it came to express this last attribute,
what example did the psalmist use -- God's creation
of mountains, seas, or far-flung galaxies? No, he
used none of these. To express the wonder of God's
unparalleled creative power the writer mentions the
fashioning of the human in the womb (14-16).
The Hebrew word used to express God's forming of us
in the womb, raqam, is the same term for needlework
or embroidery. In other words, we are a tapestry that
displays God's artistic mastery.
And, like the artist who knows his creation down to
the last detail, God intimately knows us. This
reality provokes the writer to awe and wonder. He
proclaims, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
What is true for this psalmist is true for each human
being. Each is fashioned by God and known by him and
we can proclaim on behalf of each, "I am fearfully
and wonderfully made."
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PRAYER
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Gracious God, help us to appreciate the wonder and
beauty of Your creation. Help us proclaim on behalf
of every one of our fellow human beings, "I am
fearfully and wonderfully made." May the knowledge
that we are intimately known by You shape our lives
and actions. Amen.
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PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
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To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day31print.pdf
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For Life,
David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life