Right behind you

A vigil participant shared this sentiment on our website, and I thought it was too good not to post here for your edification, dear reader:

"In the early afternoon, I went to the vigil and was struck by how silent everything was. I was there alone, completely alone, and was uncertain what to do. I stood near the 40 Days for Life sign and waited. After a moment I slowly took out my rosary and began to pray.

It seemed as though pedestrians crossed the street to avoid me. Landscapers stared at me, confused. Cars flew by with barely a sound. I was alone in front of that evil place.

As I neared the end of my rosary, I opened my eyes and saw a young man walking toward me. With his tall, thin body, his tossled hair, and his bronzed skin, he exuded the confidence of a 'cool' college student. Not wanting a confrontation, I closed my eyes and said my last Hail Mary. As he passed behind me, silently and swiftly, he clearly said, 'God bless you.'

In that moment I realized that I was not alone. God was always with me. And countless others were also with me in spirit and in prayer."

I had a very similar experience during prayer on Saturday evening. I was not yet fully absorbed in prayer, and a steady stream of interruptions came as people filed downtown to see Artprize. I felt very much in the way on the sidewalk. I had my eyes closed, focusing more intently on our Lord, when I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes as a couple walking past said gently, "Thank you" with smiles in their eyes.

Of course, moments later, a bicyclist informed me that the woman with whom I share my bed is not my wife but my mother. But by then I was deep in prayer and I only heard a clashing cymbal. What penetrated my prayer more deeply was the gift of that gentle touch, that affirmation from strangers passing by that not only does our Lord move hearts, but the witness of our prayer is a beautiful and enriching sight.

I say, stand at 320 solely to glorify God and leave the rest in His hands. Let people see that prayer for any reason is powerful...and then they will see what we are praying for and know our God loves them too. Dear reader, we are amabassadors of Love in these 40 days. We are witnessing to more than Life. We are witnessing that life in Christ is a romance. Pope Benedict writes eloquently of this romance in his latest homily to the Church in Prague:

"...only through personal intimacy and a profound bond with Christ is it possible to draw the spiritual vitality needed to live the Christian vocation to the full. Only the love of Christ can make the apostolate effective, especially in moments of difficulty and trial. Love for Christ and for one’s fellow men and women must be the hallmark of every Christian and every community. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that “the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul” (4:32). Tertullian, an early Church writer, noted that pagans were impressed by the love that bound Christians together (cf. Apologeticum XXXIX). Dear brothers and sisters, imitate the divine Master who “came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). Let love shine forth in each of your parishes and communities, and in your various associations and movements."

Let Love shine forth and radiate from you in prayer during these 40 Days. Let your heart beat as one with that Most Sacred Heart, the One pouring forth mercy and salvation upon the whole earth, and this portion we call 320 Fulton, and the portion deep within each one of us.

They know not what they do

It was a glorious day at 320, standing in the sun's rays, feeling the Son's rays. God is calling us out of the darkness and into the Light, calling forth His People, those whom His Son has gained for Him. God is also calling those who came to 320 for a very different purpose, those still shrouded in the darkness and deception of the Prince of Darkness.

One of the pro-choice protesters sharing the sidewalk with us is a student, producing a film for a project. She is probably going to receive accolades from her mentors and peers for the 'important' work she is producing.

The protesters, I've noticed, are standing facing the street, holding their signs proudly, encouraging people to honk their support. What a contrast! We, meanwhile, stand facing God, praising and glorifying Him alone and the good that He is accomplishing through us and in us, here in this city. He is the only one whose accolades count.

It was a joy to stand praising God for His radiant glory! I was reminded of the prayer Mary sang when the child leaped in Elizabeth's womb:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my savior!
For he has looked with favor on His lowly servant.
From this day all generations shall call me Blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me,
and Holy is His Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him from one generation to the next.
He has shown the strength of His arm, scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has tossed the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

He has come to the help of His servant Israel,
for He has remembered His promise of mercy,
the promise He made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.

Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

We must have been quite a scene to passersby: quiet, heads bowed on one side, loud and conspicuous on the other side. The protesters will probably continue their presence. They will hold their signs and try to outdo us. But our victory over sin and death has already been won for us on the Cross!

Again, Holy Scripture springs to mind, namely 1Kings 18:
36
At the time for offering sacrifice, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, "LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things by your command.
37
Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses."
38
The LORD'S fire came down and consumed the holocaust, wood, stones, and dust, and it lapped up the water in the trench.
39
Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

Our God will not be outdone in mercy. I am elated, dear reader, that we have been called to stand with Him at 320, praying not only for the protesters, who are proud in their conceit and, like the prophets of Baal, believe their cause is worthy. We are most importantly praying for those children who will perish at the hands of women who, with God, have brought new life into the world and chosen not to rejoice.

May the Lord have mercy on us all~

Galvanizing Gala

Carla, Jeannie, and I sat together at the PRC Gala this evening. I hope they contribute their thoughts on the subject too.

We watched a very inspiring music video proclaiming that God is the God of THIS city. I think we should show it at the Midpoint Rally! It had shots of the GR skyline, the PRC, 320, some churches, and then photos of children whose lives were saved when their mothers chose to decline abortion.

Jim informed us that last year alone 170 children were saved from abortion through the ministry of PRC. Praise God! Jim aptly described the juxtaposition of the PRC next door to Planned Parenthood and the Omega House next to 320 Fulton: he said it was Life vs. Lies.

Then we heard the keynote from Jeffrey Dean. He speaks to youth in schools and on campuses encouraging them to resist the Lies our culture sinks into their heads. Lies such as, "do what you want" or "sex without consequences" and many others. [Did you know that 25% of teens have an STD?]

He said that kids don't know that there is such a thing as Right & Wrong. They are encouraged to do what they want as if there are no consequences to the choices they make. What he describes is Moral Relativism.

Another inspiring speaker has famously denounced this threat to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I was reminded of his words as Jeffrey Dean was speaking:

How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking? The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St. Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4: 14) comes true.

Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.

We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceipt from truth.

We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity and is fulfilled in love.

On this theme, St. Paul offers us as a fundamental formula for Christian existence some beautiful words, in contrast to the continual vicissitudes of those who, like children, are tossed about by the waves: make truth in love. Truth and love coincide in Christ. To the extent that we draw close to Christ, in our own lives too, truth and love are blended. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like "a clanging cymbal" (I Cor 13: 1).

--Pope Benedict XVI in a homily, 18 April 2005

Let us remember that God is the God of Grand Rapids, and all statements to the contrary are merely static television, white noise, empty and false. Let us remember that evil began with a lie, a deception.

My godfather, a deacon in the Diocese of Lubbock, published a booklet called The Big Lie (he and his wife and children are all praying for us by the way, all the way from Texas), a response to pro-abortion propaganda. In it he describes the twisting, hair-splitting, conniving deceipt of those who claim to protect women's rights and well-being, when in fact they are doing just the opposite.

We must never for a moment believe that God will do anything less than bring about an end to abortion. Because that end is only the beginning. God has bigger plans for this city, and we are all very blessed to be cooperating with His Will.

Stand at 320 with your head held high: you stand with the God of this city!

from the desk of David Bereit

Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an
assembly. Gather the people, notify the congregation.
Assemble the elders; gather the children and the
infants at the breast... Let the priests, the
ministers of the Lord, weep and say, "Spare, O Lord,
your people."

-- Joel 2:15-17

Well, the trumpet has sounded and the fall 40 Days for Life
campaign has officially begun.

These next 40 days will be an awesome journey as,
together, we embark on the largest single coordinated
pro-life mission ever conducted.

Tens of thousands of people across 212 cities are
uniting in this prayerful effort -- as well as
countless others in places from coast to coast who
will be praying from their homes and churches --
imploring God to end the scourge of abortion.

For this effort to have grown to such an amazing size
-- and to have already saved 1,561 children from
abortion over the last two years -- is, to me, proof
that this is God's work.

HE is the answer to this crisis of abortion, so let's
pray harder than we've ever prayed before!

And speaking of blowing the trumpet, I can't help but
mention how effectively many of the local 40 Days for
Life campaigns are "tooting their horns" about this
effort. Media outlets across the country are buzzing
with news reports about this fall's campaign.

Here are just a few examples...

In Dayton, Ohio –- The Dayton Daily News covered the
local campaign's kickoff event. Rev. Mike Spencer of
Grace Missionary Church told the crowd about learning
the truth about abortion after he became a Christian
and decided to be "a voice for the unborn." Cincinnati
Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk led prayer and added, "If
we don't have reverence for human life, we are easing
ourselves into a society in which nobody is safe. If
you can kill little babies, you can kill anybody."

In Columbia, Missouri –- Kathy Forck is helping lead
that community's first 40 Days for Life campaign. "All
we want are prayers," she told the reporter for the
Columbia Missourian. "We just encourage people of
faith to come out here and stand up for the little
ones that can't stand up for themselves." A friend had
invited Kathy to pray at the clinic last spring and
she quickly realized she had to do more. "We can't
just stop," she said.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area -- Local leaders
for two campaigns appeared on Dave Palmer's KATH-AM
radio talk show to spread the word about 40 Days for
Life. Milissa Kukla is the Dallas coordinator, and
Jeff Williams handles the Fort Worth campaign. They
were also joined by Laura Barker, who was part of the
first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign in Bryan/College
Station, Texas in 2004.

Listen to part of that interview online at:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=262

40 Days for Life is the collective effort of ordinary
people asking the Lord to act in an extraordinary way.

What will He do through YOUR prayers, fasting, and
participation in 40 Days for Life this fall?

Furthermore

The following comes from Jeannie Dupont, administrative coordinator of our 40DFL campaign:

The question has arisen: Where does the Bible talk about fasting? The New Testament really tells us very little about how to fast, or maybe even why. There are no rules or guidelines. If we look at the references to fasting though, it becomes clear that the Jews held regular fasts. Jesus of course observed the Jewish traditions. The early Christians also fasted. I would propose that the lack of instruction on fasting in the New Testament implies that the practice was not at all unusual. It was assumed.

In preparation of his public ministry:

Matthew 4:2
[Jesus] fasted forty days and forty nights


A reminder of Who we’re fasting for:

Matthew 6:17
When you fast, see to it that you groom your hair and wash your face. In that way no one can see you are fasting but your Father who is hidden; and your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.


What is fasting but a deliberate denial of ourselves?

Mark 8:34
If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in my steps.


When the apostles asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out a demon:

Mark 9:28 (Douay-Rheims Translation)
And [Jesus] said to them: This kind [of demon] can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.


Fasting is a means to prepare ourselves for encountering the Lord:

Luke 2:37
[The prophetess Anna] was constantly in the temple, worshiping day and night in fasting and prayer.


Acts 13:2, 3
On one occasion, while [the apostles] were engaged in the liturgy of the Lord and were fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to them…..Then, after they had fasted and prayed, they imposed hands on them and sent them off.


Acts 14:23
In each church, they installed presbyters and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.


Once again, we see evidence that fasting was a part of the Jewish and early Christian culture

Acts 27:9
The autumn fast was over, and with the lateness of the year sailing had become hazardous.


So why fast?


1. To bring our bodies under the subjection of our wills.

2. To free our minds of earthly cares and draw closer to the Lord.

3. To unite our sufferings with those of Jesus on the cross.

4. To make a sacrifice of our wills – a prayer, an oblation, pleasing to God.

5. To plead on behalf of the innocent.

Christ be our Light

Our vigil began tonight as the coordinating team gathered for the first hour from 12am-1:00 in the cover of darkness. Jim’s son Jacob dedicated himself to the task of keeping candles lit in spite of the cool breeze coming in, a harbinger of rain. We prayed silently, and then Jim opened the Word, reminding us that Moses did not fear the foe because the Lord stands with the People called in His Name. Then Jane shared a Word from Isaiah, and one image struck me as I listened: that of mourning for the dead.

I was reminded of the glossy obsidian Vietnam Memorial wall in our nation’s capital. I went there with my family at the age of seven and I remember praying for those who died, who were gone but not forgotten. I remember going to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where a daily retinue of soldiers march in solitary staccato for those nameless dead struck down in service to our country. I remember the sombre feeling in my heart and the quiet stillness from the crowd.

This flashback then brought to mind my family’s trip to El Salvador on the 25th Anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Romero, where we visited a memorial wall for all of the Disparecidos, the Disappeared. Over the course of a decade-long and hideous civil war that erupted after Romero’s death in 1981, thousands of persons “disappeared” at the hands of a ruthless military regime. Thousands of civilians remain unaccounted for, their corpses strewn throughout the countryside, and their killers still free to hold public office. The wall lists column after column of innocent men, women, and children who were taken, tortured, and killed under suspicion of conspiracy. Their blood screams to heaven.

So I came back to 320 E. Fulton in prayerful contemplation.

We stand before a wall- a plain, nondescript office wall, remarkable in its banality. Nothing about it would indicate that here takes place a daily atrocity. I feel such peace, such genuine and sacred comfort when I stand in vigil that I forget to mourn sometimes. I feel such blessings for the children that I sometimes forget that they have died a most horrible death.

It’s an easy thing to forget when the children remain nameless, millions of disparecidos, whose names are written in the Book of Life and nowhere else. If we knew each name, and we constructed an obsidian wall…how many miles would it stretch?

When we stand at 320 E. Fulton, we stand in mourning. We honor the memory of those who are gone but not forgotten. They barely had the chance to exist, but they are not forgotten! Our solidarity with them draws us into the mystery of God’s unfathomable mercy. We have no concept of 48 million. It’s too vast a number. We vainly compute the devastation of the Shoah. We barely grasp what it meant that a few thousand died on September 11 or that a few thousand have died in Iraq.

How can we hope to fathom 48 million lives taken, tortured, and buried under miles and miles of deceipt and ignorance?

Thus we pray.

We entrust each and every life to God’s mercy. We pray that the radiance of the Lord’s mercy—the blood and water gushing forth from His side—we pray that it may wash over 320 E. Fulton. We pray that a healing baptism of tears may wash over this bloodstained and saturated ground.

As I spoke this prayer in the stillness of my heart, in the wee small hours of the morning, it began to rain. Droplets fell like tears, and they began to wash the building.

Baptism washed away our sin and claimed each one of us for Jesus Christ. Let us pray that Jesus baptize this plot of earth, this place of devastation so that a transformation may take place. And as it takes place in this city, let it transform every city where 40Days has commenced; let it transform every heart:

-the heart of the abortionist and the staff
-the heart of the mother wracked with fear and desperation, or worse, apathy
-the heart of the pedestrians passing by
-the heart of the drivers cruising past
- your heart and mine!

And as the Lord transforms our hearts, may He transform this nation. May healing be brought to our land: May divisions cease, may justice prevail, may Love reign supreme!!!

May the Lord transform the heart of our President and his administration.
May the Lord transform the hearts of our Senators and Representatives.
May the Lord transform the hearts of those who gather in judicial chambers.
May the Lord transform the hearts of those who study and practice medicine.
May the Lord transform the hearts of those who practice and uphold the Law.
May the Lord transform.

May God reign victorious. May walls crumble. May 320 be claimed for Christ, the Author of Life. May each of our hearts be claimed for Christ. May the Water of Life cleanse us from our sin and wash away all of our iniquities. AMEN+ Alleluia!

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy~ envelop each child in your loving care and welcome each victim into the sacred abode of your everlasting peace. Let your perpetual light shine upon each one of them and bring us all at last into the peace of your Kingdom, where you reign forever and ever and unto ages of ages. Master of the Universe, who created the stars, who clothed the lilies of the field: THY WILL BE DONE!

Turn your ear, my people

In my evening prayer, I encountered this Word (in bold letters below) in Psalm 78:

Give heed, my people, to my teaching;
turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable
and reveal the hidden lessons of the past.

The things we have heard and understood,
the things our fathers have told us,
these we will not hide from their children
but will tell them to the next generation:

the glories of the Lord and his might
and the marvelous deeds he has done,
the witness he gave to Jacob,
the law he established in Israel.

He gave a command to our fathers
to make it known to their children
that the next generation might know it,
the children yet to be born.

Every abortion ends an opportunity for the Word to be revealed to a new soul.

Let it begin, let it begiiiin!

I had my own little carnival last night [literally, carni+Vale= "goodbye, meat!"] after the Rally.

Mathematically, the fasting doesn't start until Wednesday, but specifically in Grand Rapids the kickoff rally was the kicking-off of our 40 days of prayer & fasting. As the hamster in Bolt says, "Let it begiiiiin!"

When it's Lent, I usually start fasting the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, only to give myself the trial days before the fast officially begins so that I can wean myself off meals and in case I have an oopsie moment, like in college, when I got all excited to eat my burger in the cafeteria and my friends all looked at me in shock and said, "Seth, it's Friday." I actually had my teeth around the sesame bun, and my tongue could taste the grilled salaciousness when they stopped me, mouths agape, as if I'd just eaten my pet dog. Clearly, I hadn't yet been in the habit of abstinence.

So I encourage you to use these advance days for practicing, getting out of old habits, and learning the new rhythm of grocery shopping and meal prep without meat (or chocolate or TV or whatever the Lord has asked you to renounce in order to hear Him better). I liked Jim Sprague's idea of fasting from media, and only allowing the Word to be your source for news.

The Rally went very well, even if it didn't go as scheduled (yet isn't that true of so many things in life?). Our keynote speaker delivered a very abbreviated version of his prepared speech in which he reminded us that standing up for what is just and standing up for our principles never comes easily, but called to it we must stand, even if it means sacrificing, especially if it means sacrificing, because that has always been and will ever be the Way of Love, as demonstrated at Calvary.

Moments prior, we heard the courageous story of Nancy Fohlbrook, who ended the life of her daughter in utero and now commits herself to prayer & fasting for an end to abortion. It takes courage to admit when we have caused the Lord sorrow, a reality we have all witnessed at one time or another in our own lives. We have all done something to hurt the One who gave us Life.

So, we begin 40 days of prayer, 40 days of fasting, rendering our hearts and not our garments. We all stand in need of the Lord's Mercy as we stand for what is Just.

Remember, the end of abortion is only the beginning of what the Lord wants to accomplish in this world, in this city, in our hearts.

Good News

Jesus instructs us, his disciples, in today's Gospel reading:

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

To receive even one child is the same as receiving God.

Wow.

We will be doing more at 320 E. Fulton than perhaps we'd imagined!

In my evening prayer with Psalm 7, I was struck by another verse:

"Here is one who is pregnant with malice, conceives evil, and brings forth lies."

What a contrast to what took place in Mary's womb, she who brought forth the Savior, Good and True! What a contrast to what can happen when we reverence children as the Gospel commands us.

When we pray at 320, we bear witness that pregnancy, conception, and bringing forth new life is a sacred act, because in doing that, we receive God into our presence.

The Psalmist goes on to proclaim, "He digs a pitfall, digs it deep; and in the trap he has made he will fall. His malice will recoil on himself; on his own head his violence will fall.

I will thank the Lord for his justice;
I will sing to the Lord, the Most High."

Let us go to 320 confident that the Author of Lies, Malice, and Evil has dug the pitfall and will recoil. Let us go to 320 praising the Lord for JUSTICE.
Let us sing, dear reader, let us sing! Alleluia~ Praise Jesus, sent to save us!